The Light of Day and the Dark of Night
by Sisters of Earth and Flame
Summary: Two girls meet up in a dungeon and become best friends. Their main similarity is that the same demon killed their parents and is now after them to prevent the prophecy of his demise by these two girls. KuramaxOC HieixOC Rated M for possible future scenes.
1. Hiroyuki

Chapter One: Hiroyuki

Disclaimer: We do not own Yu Yu Hakusho (much to our displeasure). Ayamae and Faith, on the other hand, we **do** own along with Hiroyuki.

_Man! Why does my head hurt so much? And where am I?_ The six-year-old Ayamae wondered,rubbing the knot on her head as she looked around.

"So you finally woke up. Took you long enough," came a voice of a girl behind Ayamae. She turned and saw the girl was approximately the same age as herself.

"Who are you? Where are we?" Ayamae asked the girl.

"I'm Faith, and does it look like I know!"

"I don't know! We just met! You tell me!"

Faith glared at her. "No."

"Does that mean you don't know?"

"Well, DUH!"

"So… how do we get out of here… wherever here is?"

"Well… we could…"

"Could what?"

"… I don't know."

"What's wrong with you! Did you forget or something?"

"No, I thought if I started talking I'd get an idea by the time I needed to say it!"

Ayamae glared out of frustration. "Well… are you a demon?"

"Yep. I'm undefined, but I work with darkness and light, but am best with kitsune."

"Really? I'm undefined too. Of course, I'm best with fire and second with ice."

"How does that work out?"

"The same way as your light and darkness; they're separated."

"So… what does knowing our demon types do to help us?"

"Well, we need to know our strengths and weaknesses. That way we can find a way out of here," Ayamae explained.

"Ok, genius, do you have a plan yet?"

"No… but I'm working on it! Don't rush me!"

"I'm not! I just want to know what I have to do in this plan of yours!"

"Well if you would shut up long enough for me to think of one then you'll know!" Ayamae yelled.

"Don't yell at me!" Faith cried, tears streaming down her face.

_Stupid child._ Ayamae thought, rolling her eyes.

"I'm not a child! I'm six and a half!" Faith corrected.

"Really? When's your birthday?" Ayamae asked, wondering how much younger Faith was.

"It's April first."

"What! How are you older than me?"

"When's your birthday?"

"November 11th," Ayamae replied quietly.

Faith started to laugh, but stopped and glared at the doorway, which was behind Ayamae. She followed Faith's gaze until her eyes landed on a tall demon with long, wavy, black hair and glowing red eyes. His face was twisted into an evil grin. He started walking towards them and stopped at their feet.

"My two beautiful, little, six-year-olds," he said in his low, demonic voice.

"Three things: first, we're not yours. Second, we're not little. And third, we're not six!" Faith yelled the last part at him.

"We're six and a half!" Ayamae yelled.

"Does it really make that much of a difference?"

"Yes!" the girls yelled in unison.

"Whatever…" the demon sighed, shaking his head at them.

Ayamae and Faith stuck out their tongues at him and then looked at each other grinning.

_Are you telepathic?_ Ayamae thought to Faith.

_Why, yes I am!_ Faith stated in Ayamae's mind.

_So… how are we getting out of this place?_

_Too bad one of us doesn't have a jagan eye…_

_Why do you say that?_ Ayamae asked.

_We could attack him, since I have a dagger, with Sword of the Darkness Flame_ Faith suggested.

_Do you have any idea how difficult the jagan eye attacks are! Even using to blade to save one's body is difficult! Believe me… I know_. Ayamae informed Faith roughly.

_How would you know?_

_Didn't you ever wonder why I wear my bandana down to my eyebrows?_

_Just a little bit_.

_I hide my jagan eye_. _I've been training for the last two years with these attacks. The innocent little girl act is too easy. I won't use the darkness flame, but I will read his mind to se what he plans to do with us._

Ayamae focused her powers, jagan eye as a filter, into the demons mind. _Too bad these two must die… they're bound to grow up to be beautiful women._

_What's he thinking? _ Faith asked, seeing Ayamae's eyes widen slightly.

_He plans on killing us!_ Ayamae informed her companion, trying to summon fire to her hands, but found her spirit energy absorbed by the handcuffs on her wrists. She struggled slightly against them and found no give, which she had expected to be as such.

_Killing us! Why would he want to do that?_

_Ask him, not me._

"Why do you want to kill us?" Faith asked him.

"What? How did you…? What makes you think that?"

"It's written all over your face! Remember we're girls. We know how to read people." Ayamae replied knowledgeably.

"Since you're going to die anyway I might as well tell you. I was told a prophecy stating I would meet my doom at the hands of two young, demon girls. These girls just happen to be you."

The girls just sat in awe upon hearing this until Faith got an idea.

"Well, since you're going to kill us, can we at least die honorably?"

The demon seemed confused as to what Faith meant.

"I mean would you let us die fighting you?" Faith clarified.

He thought about it for a moment. "Why not? I killed your families without any trouble. Two six-year-olds should be a piece of cake."

"Six and a half!" Ayamae yelled.

"Cake! Where!" Faith asked looking around their cell.

"Does it matter that much?"

"Yes!" they yelled simultaneously.

"Fine, six and a half," he sighed.

He unlocked Ayamae's chains then Faith's, but wasn't prepared for the strength of Faith's sudden attack. She kicked him in the face, sending him flying across the room. Ayamae took this moment to summon her Fists of Immortal Flame.

Faith stood at Ayamae's side and drew her dagger, not willing to use her spirit energy on an opponent she thought feeble and dim-witted. But she had miscalculated his strength for he had stood up and fired two balls of flame at them. Faith barely had enough time to put up her Night Shield before the flames hit its surface. She lowered the shield and Ayamae fired her Fists of Immortal Flame. The demon had just announced his name: Hiroyuki.

Of course, Hiroyuki had underestimated the girls' abilities. He realized this too late though, for he stood his ground and took a direct hit from Ayamae's attack. The fireballs hit him, one burning the left half of his face, the other, his upper right arm. He fell to his knees, but only when he started to stand again did the girls realize that they didn't have the strength to defeat him.

"Light Shards!" Fait yelled, summoning two shards of light. She quickly threw them, pinning him to the wall at each of his shoulders. Using this time to escape, the girls ran from the room. The last thing they saw of him was the light shards holding him securely to the wall.


	2. In the Human World

Chapter Two: In the Human World

Disclaimer: Much to our displeasure, we do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. The day we do is the day we become immortal.

Note: Again, we wish to tell you (in case you haven't caught on) this story is co-written. We are open to comments, including constructive criticism, but please, no flamers. Anyway! On with the story!

"So… this is the human world…" Ayamae wondered aloud.

"I guess so," Faith agreed, looking around curiously.

"Now what do we do? Didn't what's-his-name… Hiroyuki… say something about killing our families?"

"Wait! I think he did! Do you think… he was lying… about killing them?"

"As much as I wish this weren't true, I think he was telling the truth."

"How can you say that!"

"He had no reason to lie to us. He thought he would be killing us in the end. Why else would he let us fight?"

"Because he's stupid! He didn't know I had my dagger!"

"I believe it was more him underestimating us. He had no idea about your dagger, I agree, but he also didn't know of my jagan eye or of how advanced I am in training to use it. Also, we were lucky."

"… I bet we scared him silly!" Faith cheered.

"Yeah! We probably did! But… what do we do now? We're orphans now, remember?"

"We'll stick together. Faith and Ayamae, friends till the end!" Faith yelled, throwing her fist up in the air.

"Sounds good. Oh, I forgot to tell you, you can call me Aya."

"Works for me, Yamae!"

Ayamae tuned towards Faith, a look so threatening in her eyes it brought a chill down her own spine. Suddenly, Faith was slammed into a nearby brick wall. "Don't ever, EVER call me that again! I go by Aya and Ayamae, never Yamae! Got it!" Ayamae yelled, the red ring around her deep blue eyes disappearing.

"Jeez! Bite my head off! I get it. NOW LET ME DOWN!"

Ayamae slowly lowered Faith back to the ground. She turned her back to her new-found friend. "Sorry I snapped. That name just holds bad memories for me," Ayamae apologized.

"Do you want to tell me or are you going to leave me hanging?"

"My brother, he was nine a week ago, he used to call me that…"

Flashback

"Yamae, run! Go! Mom, Dad, and I will take care of this demon! Go, now!"

"NO! Haru! I won't leave you!"

"Yamae go! I'll find you!" Haru yelled over the noise, aiming his palms at his sister. He used his powers to teleport her away from the battle.

"**NO!**" Ayamae yelled, ignoring the trees surrounding her. "No, my vision can't come true! They can't die," tears flowed freely from her eyes. _I love you, brother._

_Why do you sound so…_

_Haru? Are you ok?_

No answer came. _Haru? Haru, this isn't funny! Answer me! _Ayamae couldn't sense Haru's spirit anymore. Her jagan eye would have sensed him, if no one else.

"No…" Ayamae whispering into the wind, "you can't be gone. My visions never come true!"

But… this was the fist of many to come…

End Flashback

"Ayamae? Ayamae, are you okay?" Faith's voice brought Ayamae back to the present.

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine. Just remembering something."

"Whatever."

The red ring around Ayamae's dark blue eyes flared again slightly.

"What was that!" Faith cried. "I saw it earlier but thought it a trick of light."

"Whenever I feel strongly about something, I eyes flash faintly. No big deal," Ayamae explained, dismissing the phenomenon.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Ayamae didn't answer, but looked at the brick wall that was across the street from them. Her eyes flashed for a moment, then the wall came crashing down, flames devouring it. "I am now!" Ayamae said cheerfully.

"Ooh! That looks like fun! My turn!"

Faith simply flicked her wrist at another brick wall and it collapsed.

"Nice one!" Ayamae cheered.

"Thank you."

"You know what? This is really quite a stress reliever!"

"Yeah! It is!"

The girls walked down empty streets, breaking down walls and fences as they did.

"We need weapons. And no, our spirit power and your dagger aren't what I mean," Ayamae pointed out after a time.

Faith pouted, her bottom lip jutting out.

The two girls continued walking until Faith cried out, "Ooh! Look at the pretty sign!" It was black with a katana pictured, a blood drop hanging from the tip.

"Neato! Let's check it out." The two girls kept heading in the direction of the store.

"Aya?"

"Yeah?"

"What does the sign say?"

"As if I know! Something about katanas probably."

In the shop

"See! I told you it was katanas!"

"How may I help you little girls?" a store clerk asked.

"We're not little!" Faith corrected.

"We need to see some katanas," Ayamae stated.

"Why do two young ladies, such as yourselves, need to see a katanas for?" he asked.

"… We're getting one for our father for his birthday," Ayamae created quickly.

_Nice one!_ Faith commented.

"For use or show?" the clerk asked.

"…huh?" Faith asked, not sure what he meant.

"Will he be using it or not?"

"Father would use it; he is a fighter." Aya clarified.

"Well, we have an array of fighting style katanas, so I hope you know what kind your father likes."

"Don't worry, we know," Faith said.

_How could we not? We know what we like._ Faith said.

The girls browsed through the rows of glass cases, looking at the different katanas. They would not be happy until they found the perfect one for them.

"That one!" Ayamae cried out, pointing to a katana with a long blade, black hilt, and five rubies set into the hilt on a star formation near the blade.

_My lucky number, my favorite colors, my favorite weapon… what more could I want?_

_Well… you could want money to pay for it._

_Shut up! We don't have any money._

_No money? But… how will we pay for these?_

_That's the thing… we don't._

"This one! He'd love it!" Ayamae said excitedly.

Across the room

"This one!" Faith yelled, receiving many dark and startled looks from the surrounding customers. She had in her sights a katana with a curved blade, red hilt with silver engraving. 'Faith' was engraved in black on the forte (near the hilt) of the blade.

"But your sister said that the one she picked out was to be for you father," the salesclerk said.

"May we see them? I mean hold them in our hands and weigh them?"

"Do you know what you're doing with weapons such as these? These are two of the most advanced katanas in this shop. They are quite expensive," the clerk informed them.

"I'm sure we know enough about weapons such as these to at least be able to test them out. I mean, we were raised around them," Ayamae assured the clerk.

_Let's see how advanced these weapons really are _Ayamae stated, going into a fighting stance.

_Let's_ Faith agreed, a grin crossing her face.

The blades clashed, sliding towards the hilt and back to the tip. They flew through the air, whistling as they went. Panic captured everyone else in the building. They cried out from fear. They had never seen two young girls fight with such talent. The salesman had run for cover. His boss would kill him if these two didn't first.

_Do you like that blade? _Faith asked.

_I love it! Do you like yours?_

_Of course! Do you see the side-swipe this thing can do! _

_That's beautiful… _

_I mean it! This is the one I want. _

_So you're ready to run for it?_

_Yep!_

_On three. One… two…three!_

The girls grabbed the sheaths that went with the swords and ran from the shop, tying the sheath's belt to them after securing the blades safely.


	3. Meeting the Team

Disclaimer: Much to our displeasure, we do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. The day we do is the day we become immortal.

Note: Again, we wish to tell you (in case you haven't caught on) this story is co-written. We are open to comments, including constructive criticism, but please, no flamers. Anyway! On with the story!

Chapter Three: Meeting the Team

Ten years later

Faith sat on the couch, watching Wolf's Rain. Ayamae sat in her room, trying to do her English essay, but found more interest in making fireballs in her hand and extinguishing them, then repeating the process.

A knock on the door interrupted Faith's drooling over Kiba.

"Go away!!!" she yelled.

Another knock came.

"We don't want anything! If that's not why you're here, come back in 20 min.!"

Another knock, more persistent this time, sent Faith over the edge.

"That's it!! You won't leave a girl alone to watch her show then I'll just have to teach you a lesson!"

She opened the door to reveal two boys. One was taller, with long red hair. The other had short, black hair that was gelled back.

"Ayamae!" Faith yelled into the house, "There's a demon and a half at the door!"

"A half?" Ayamae questioned.

"Yep."

"Do I need to change?"

"Maybe… let me check." Faith looked the guys over from head to toe. "Yeah."

Ayamae walked into the living room, turning off the TV as she did. Her hair was bright red with black streaks and her eyes were a fiery red. She wore red eye shadow that matched the red glitter that highlighted her cheekbones. She also had on black eye liner that went well with the black glitter on her lips. Her outfit consisted of black fighting pants and a black shirt with red writing that read: 'Don't hate me because I'm Pyra…' On the back it read: 'Fear me!' "What do you want?"

"You two!" the black haired one said rather impatiently.

"Excuse me!?!" Ayamae and Faith said in unison.

"What he means is we need you to come with us to see someone," the red-head clarified.

"First of all, who are you?" Faith asked, turning serious.

"Oh, sorry, I'm Kurama," said the red-head, "and that's Yusuke."

"Thank you. Second, I'm not leaving until I know who we're going to see," Faith said.

Yusuke and Kurama looked at each other as if they didn't know whether to tell them or not. Finally, Kurama answered her question, "Lord Koenma, Ruler of the Spirit World."

"Koenma? Haven't talked to him in a while." Ayamae said, mostly to herself.

"You know that toddler?" Yusuke chimed in, now more curious.

"We're on what you would call Spirit World probation," Faith said with a small sigh, "Don't ask."

"So Faith, do you trust them?" (For those who can't guess that was Ayamae speaking.)

"Yusuke, I'm still iffy on but Kurama's a kitsune. Of course I trust him."

"How did you know," Kurama asked.

"I might tell you… later."

"Whatever. Let me get my stuff," Ayamae said as she left the room. A minute later she returned, sheathing her katana and then tossing Faith's to her.

"Wonder what Hiei will say," mused Yusuke aloud.

"Or what he won't," Kurama replied.

As they walked out the door, Ayamae was surrounded by an inferno. "Sorry," she said seeing the look on Yusuke's face, "I had to change to my human form."

-At Koenma's office-

They walked into a white room where the only furniture was a desk with a swivel chair behind it, which was occupied by Koenma, and six chairs. They also saw three other people, besides Koenma, in the room. One of them Faith knew.

"Hey, Kuwabara what's up?" Faith asked strolling up to the tall orange-haired one.

They did a handshake in greeting.

"Nothing but the ceiling, baby," Kuwabara answered.

"How do you know him?" Yusuke asked.

"Street fight," Ayamae said with a sigh.

"Street fight," Faith answered proudly as she ignored her friend's tone and sigh.

"Hn… I'd expect it from that baka but from you…" the black-haired one with the white bandana said, trailing off.

"You obviously don't know her very well," Ayamae said, turning to him. "…Yours isn't real…"

"What?" the boy asked.

"Your Jagan eye… it's not natural…"

"How do you…?"

"Mine is natural. That little fact makes it so I can sense the authenticity of others' as well… including yours, Hiei Jaganshi," Ayamae replied mysteriously.

Hiei stared openly at Ayamae, his mouth slightly agape.

Faith watched this banter and found it amusing, especially the fact that Hiei remained quiet after all Ayamae's assaults.

"I tend to know more than you think, fire apparition," Ayamae commented.

All of a sudden, they heard someone clearing their throat. They turned to where the interruption had come from and saw Koenma sitting rather impatiently.

"Hey Koenma! Long time no see!" Faith exclaimed. "So, why did you want to see us?"

"I want you to join Team Urameshi," he said simply.

Faith's jaw dropped and Ayamae just glared at him. Faith, a couple seconds later, regained her composure and shut her mouth.

"Does this mean we're off probation?" Faith asked seeing that Ayamae wasn't going to.

"If you join the team, yes."

"Well, I'm in," Faith said rather reluctantly and then turned to her best friend, "What about you Aya?"

Ayamae just continued to glare at Koenma then left the room.

"Great," Faith said enthusiastically, "She's in!"

"How could you tell?" Yusuke asked.

"I've lived with her for 15 years. I speak and understand fluent Ayamae."

"Well then," Koenma said, "You guys get the rest of the day off but have an assignment. You have to get to know Faith and Ayamae."

Thanks for reading. Please review but no flamers! Please and thank you!


	4. Questions

Disclaimer: We do NOT own Yu Yu Hakusho.

Start story!

Chapter Four: Questions

The team and its new members sat in the living room of Genkai's temple.

"How about a little question game?" Faith suggested. "There will be two groups, Ayamae and I in one group, you guys in the other. Each group gets to ask one question each turn. If the question steps over personal boundaries it will be thrown out and another will be allowed to replace it."

"This should be fun," Yusuke said, an evil grin on his face, "We'll start."

Ayamae and Faith nodded.

"What did you mean by fluent Ayamae?" Kuwabara asked.

"Ayamae, care to demonstrate?"

She nodded, "Well…" She started speaking quickly, answering his question. It was fast to the point that no one understood besides Faith. All of sudden Ayamae stopped and glared.

"She said, 'I'm glad that you asked, because I will speak like this often. Only those who are around me a long time, mainly Faith, can interpret my quick speech and seemingly random body language.' These normally are glares and things of that sort. Oh! And that glare she gave you at the end means she thinks you're an idiot."

Kuwabara sat there stunned beyond words.

"Our turn," Faith said, "Hmmm… let's see… Who is Urameshi?"

"That would be me," Yusuke answered. "Do you have any siblings?"

Both Ayamae and Faith flinched noticeably. Ayamae closed her eyes and inhaled sharply.

"Boundary question," Faith said quietly, but Ayamae started speaking.

"I had a brother."

"Had?" Kurama probed.

Faith quickly intervened, "Only one question per turn, remember. I also had a brother. What is your weapon of choice?"

"Rose whip." Kurama stated.

"Spirit Gun." Yusuke answered.

"Spirit Sword." Kuwabara added.

There was silence and everybody turned to Hiei.

"Well?" Ayamae asked.

"That's for me to know and you to find out," Hiei stated bluntly.

"Oh, but that's not a personal question, therefore you must answer."

"I must do nothing."

"Oh, but we answer about our personal past and you can't answer about your weapon of choice? That doesn't seem fair."

"But I didn't ask the question."

"That does not matter. Your group asks, ours answers and vice-versa."

Hiei glared and stood up. "If you bakas make me mad, you will find out."

"Or you could answer the question and skip us having to tell Koenma on you for threatening us!" Faith exclaimed smartly.

"But I don't threaten…" he said, throwing Faith against the wall, his katana at her neck, "I promise."

"Do you really think you want to threaten her? Or would you rather live through another night?" Ayamae asked, standing behind him, katana ready to attack him from behind.

"I knew we'd find out one way or another!" Faith grinned.

Hiei lowered his katana and turned toward Ayamae. "Nice katana. Where did you get it?"

"I stole it," Ayamae answered not really caring.

"Our turn," Faith added cheerfully.

Hiei glared at Faith at her cheerfulness and lack of fear, silently asking why she held no fright.

"She knows I have her back. We've been this way for ten years," Ayamae answered the unspoken question.

"Are you gonna let me down or not? I don't really care, but I'm kinda' hungry. Oh, and we have two turns now," Faith said.

"What?!?" Yusuke asked bewildered.

Kurama just smiled.

"He asked questions; I answered. That's all there is to it," Ayamae stated.

"Besides, if you kill me she'll kill you. I'll be happy."

"She will try," Hiei sneered.

"No, I will," Ayamae stated coldly.

"Now, children, let's play nice," Kuwabara said in a female teacher-ish voice.

Hiei and Ayamae turned their heads to glare at him and hunkered down farther into the couch. Faith remained pinned to the wall, grinning at Hiei's turned face.

"Is he always this stupid?" Ayamae asked rhetorically.

"Yes," Hiei grunted.

The three sat back down in their previous spots.

"Kurama, aren't you the famous kitsune thief, Youko Kurama?"

"I am, yet I'm not. I'm sure you have heard of my past. How I was badly injured and my spirit escaped to the human world."

"Yes, I have. Thank you for confirming my suspicions."

"You're welcome. Now, would you elaborate on the fact that you 'had' a brother?"

"Wait! It's still our turn. We only asked one question!"

"Actually, that was two. The first about Kuwabara's intelligence, and the second about my past," Kurama supplied.

"The question with Kuwabara was meant to be rhetorical," Faith replied for her 'sister'.

"That was not specified."

Faith sighed, "Well, damn."

"Same question. Could you elaborate on the fact that you 'had' a brother?"

"Boundaries," Faith and Ayamae said in unison.

They seemed to show no emotion but their eyes betrayed them.

"Fair enough. What type of demon are you," he pointed at Faith.

"I'm undefined really. I have many different kinds of attacks but I'm half kitsune and that's the form I take."

"Hiei," Ayamae started and he turned away from the window to glare at her, "Do you have any siblings?" Note: We do not know if Hiei has told Yukina about their relation but for story purposes he has.

He didn't answer.

"Hiei, we have been through this already. Answer the question."

He refused and looked back out the window.

"He has a sister," Kurama answered in Hiei's stead.

Hiei now turned back to Ayamae, "What type of demon are you?"

"Should I demonstrate?"

"Be my guest. I don't care either way," Hiei said.

Ayamae stood up and moved away from any people and furniture. She was surrounded by flames and when they died down she was in her demon form. The team looked at her from head to toe, from her bright red hair with black streaks, to the red glitter that highlighted her cheekbones, all the way down to her outfit.

Hiei seemed shocked and for a moment, Ayamae thought she saw a hint of blush in his face but quickly dismissed it.

"I think we've finally found Hiei's twin!" Kuwabara exclaimed.

"Not quite. I'm truly undefined, but obviously excel in flame and Jagan attacks."

"So that makes you…?" Yusuke asked.

"Fire enchantress. Even though it's rather obvious by her demon form," Hiei answered for her.

"Thank you. I don't like answering fools."

"Ok, our turn!" Faith exclaimed happily. "When's lunch?!?"

-Anime fall-

Kurama and Hiei were the first to regain their composure and Ayamae didn't seem the least bit surprised and grinned at the question.

"Now if you would like," Kurama said.

"YAY!" Faith exclaimed, jumping up and down on the couch.

Ayamae sat there on the now bouncing couch. "Play to her appetite and this is what you get."

Faith: No really, when is lunch?

Ayamae: -sweatdrop- It's 10 o'clock at night.

Faith: -scowling- So!?!

Ayamae: Give me a break.

Faith: Ok! I'll start with your arm and then your leg…

Ayamae: Anyway… I hope you all enjoyed that chapter!!! Please review!

Faith: But NO flamers!


	5. Faith vs Kurama

Disclaimer: We do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.

Note: We are having an awesome time writing this.

Faith: -chewing her 'lunch'- That we are!!!

Ayamae: Chill out, Foxy! (Meant as a nickname! So don't think in a perverted way! We are best friends/sisters!)

Faith: PLEASE, NO FLAMERS WHEN YOU REVIEW! _Carpe Diem!_ (Seize the Day) Okay, might be a little random but hey, that's me!

Anyway… Onward!

Chapter Five: Faith vs. Kurama

"That was pretty good, Fox boy!" Ayamae commented, pointing to her now empty plate.

"I'll take that as a complement," Kurama said.

"Trust me! That was quite the complement coming from her!" Faith assured him.

Just then Genkai walked into the room. "Well, if you are done stuffing your faces it's time to train."

Faith and Ayamae followed her, the rest of the team closely behind them.

"First match will be Faith and Kurama."

They walked onto the training platform.

"Are there any rules that I should be aware of, Master Genkai?" Faith asked.

"Don't kill him."

"Damn it!" Faith exclaimed sarcastically.

Kurama laughed a little, "Shall we begin?"

"Fine by me."

Kurama pulled a rose out of his hair.

"Oh, is that for me?" Faith asked sarcasm dripping from her every word.

A smile crossed his face and he then transformed it into a whip.

"Ahh, the weapon of choice."

"Big surprise, huh?!" Ayamae yelled from the sidelines.

Faith smirked.

"Fight!" Genkai yelled, signaling the start of the first match.

They stood there, waiting for their opponent to make the first move.

"Just go already!" Yusuke yelled impatiently.

Neither one of the fighters paid attention to him though.

-Faith's POV-

_We have the same strategic tactics. This should be interesting._

Ayamae yelled inside my head, _Just go already!_

_I might as well start this, _I thought. _Think like Aya, start the fight and end it._

_Thanks a lot, Foxy!_

I laughed out loud. "You're welcome."

Kurama looked confused.

"Inside the head joke… literally!" I explained.

-No one's POV-

"Light Shards!"

Five shards, in the form of light, shot out from her palm toward Kurama. He dodged them all with ease and started lashing his whip at her. This continued for quite some time, Faith dodging each of his attacks. Kurama finally had Faith in a position that she could not get out of in time to guard or defend. Kurama lashed out with his whip one last time.

"Night Shield!"

A dome of transparent black formed around Faith just as the whip hit it. Kurama withdrew his whip and Faith lowered her shield. He smiled at me, laughing slightly.

"What, may I ask, is so funny?" Faith asked slightly confused.

"I have you cornered, but, then again, you can't stay behind your shield forever and you can't kill me."

It was Faith's turn to laugh, "Do you not realize you'll always be on my turf. I control both light and darkness." As she said this it was slowly becoming darker.

-Ayamae's POV-

"Oh, he's going to get it. I'm beginning to feel sorry for him." I said to no one in particular.

But Hiei answered me. "Don't feel sorry for him. I would save your pity for her."

I turned to glare at him, "'Beginning' was the key word. I don't pity. Pity is for the weak." I turned back to the fight.

-Kurama's POV-

_She's letting down her guard even though she does not realize it. Just a little bit longer and she'll be vulnerable._

-No one's POV-

Faith only caught the last part of his last strain of thought. "I am not vulnerable!" She yelled at him.

_Finally, a weakness,_ Kurama thought, putting up a mental block. "A little touchy, aren't we."

_Don't give into his taunting, Faith!_ Ayamae thought telepathically but Faith ignored her.

She was starting to get mad when Kurama's sudden attack with his whip surprised her. His whip wrapped around her body, holding her arms down, rendering her helpless, which she didn't like one bit. She let out a low growl, which surprised him just a bit and Faith took that opportunity to stretch for the dagger which was at her side. The thorns of the whip dug into her skin, but she ignored it. She grasped the dagger's hilt and unsheathed it, cutting the whip as she did. The pieces fell to the ground leaving him without a weapon. She charged at him with her dagger in hand. He dodged and kicked it out of her hand. Pain shot up her injured arm and she fell to her knees, watching Kurama pick up her dagger. She started to unsheathe her katana and seconds later he had her pinned to the ground, the dagger at her throat. She had drawn her katana and held the weapon to his.

"Draw!" Genkai announced.

They lowered their weapons. Kurama handed her her dagger and she sheathed it along with her katana.

"Are you okay?" Kurama asked, sounding really concerned about her arm.

"I'll be fine," she answered staring ahead of her, thoroughly annoyed with him.

He lightly grabbed her uninjured shoulder, causing her to stop. She turned and glared at him.

"I didn't mean it that way, when I said you were vulnerable."

Her gaze softened a little, but she just walked away toward the temple. She sat in her room with a basin of water, a piece of cloth, bandages and her herbs and salves. She had just finished cleaning her wounds and putting a salve on it for the pain. She had started bandaging it when Kurama walked in. He sat down beside her and watched her. She was having trouble bandaging her shoulder when he offered to help. She looked at him and then let him help.

"I'm sorry," she said breaking the silence. "It's just all my life people have called me vulnerable and looked at me as if I were this helpless girl, except Aya of course. It just makes me feel so inferior, to everyone. It's not the greatest feeling in the world."

He finished bandaging her arm and looked at her face.

-Kurama's POV-

"I guess I understand. I have to admit, I underestimated you at first." _She looks so sad. I wonder what happened in her past. All that she does seems to be linked in some way with it. _

It was her voice that brought me out of my thoughts.

"I guess we should go back outside to see Ayamae fight. She'll kill me if I miss her and Hiei's fight."

"How do you know that Master Genkai will pair Hiei and her up?"

"Just a hunch."

He smiled and nodded.

When they got there they saw Yusuke dragging an unconscious Kuwabara from the ring where Ayamae stood.

"Winner, Ayamae!" Genkai announced. "Hiei and Ayamae will fight the next match."

"Guess you were right," Kurama said upon hearing this and smiled.


	6. Hiei vs Ayamae

Disclaimer: We do not own Yu Yu Hakusho much to our disappointment.

Story Start!

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Chapter Six: Hiei vs. Ayamae

-While Kurama and Faith were gone-

"Where are they going?" Yusuke asked.

"Don't you know anything about kitsunes? They are a love-hate race. Fighting one second… you can guess what happens next," Ayamae replied.

She got looks of shock from Yusuke and Kuwabara.

"Are you sure?" Kuwabara asked.

"I've lived over half of my life with Faith. I was kidding. She'd sooner kill him than let him touch her in that way. I can't say as much for later, though."

"What do you mean by that?" Yusuke asked.

"One word, Spirit Detective. Heat."

"Oh!"

"But… when that happens she'll probably sleep with her katana tied to her hand. She's not a girl to be taken advantage of."

"Well, we don't have all day to stand here and explain the meaning of life to these numbskulls. Ayamae, you get to fight Kuwabara," Genkai interrupted.

"But I can't fight her! She's a girl!" Kuwabara argued.

"Fight her, or you'll fight me," Genkai said.

"I'll just have to fight her then," Kuwabara said.

"Great. I'll at least get to wake up after this."

"I know! I'll keep you on your toes!" Kuwabara bragged.

"Actually, I was referring to this fight as the nap and the conversation with Faith that will follow to be the thing that will wake me up," Ayamae replied briskly.

Ayamae got into a fighting stance and smirked.

"Fight!" Genkai announced.

Kuwabara didn't move. He just stood there, refusing to attack.

"Kuwabara, I have no intention to just stand here until I fall asleep. If I must, I will hurt you. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly an honorable woman according to human protocol. I would kick you while you're down. I would stab you when your back is turned. I would kill someone for harming or making fun of Faith. That's just the way I am," Ayamae explained to the foolish human.

"I will not fight a woman. That's just the way my honor code works," Kuwabara replied.

"Fine. Just don't blame me for all the bumps, bruises, and pain you have tomorrow morning."

Ayamae stopped wasting her time with the useless chitchat. If Kuwabara didn't get the hint by now, it was his own fault. She slowly walked toward him, her hands behind her back.

"Are you sure your honor code means that much to you?" she asked him.

"Yes. If I break it now I may as well start punching Keiko," he replied.

"Hey! You leave Keiko out of this!!" Yusuke yelled from the sidelines.

_I guess someone is a little protective over a girl,_ Ayamae noted.

Ayamae suddenly smacked Kuwabara's ear.

"Hey! I wasn't ready for that!" he complained.

"But I already explained this to you. You're lucky I didn't stab you. Do you not get it?" Ayamae punched him roughly in the stomach. "I'll be rough with you. Lay down on the ground conscious and I'll bash your head into the floor until you aren't. Do you not get the fact that I'm a ruthless demon in and out of the ring?!" she nearly yelled at him.

She turned her back to him and walked away, trying to regain control of her temper. _I will not show any weakness. This must be a test of my attitude. I'll beat him then take on whomever I need to and show my true power then, _Ayamae thought.

Ayamae turned around abruptly and raced toward her opponent. Kuwabara screamed and ducked, fearing her onslaught. At the last moment, Ayamae jumped high into the air. Of course, her opponent didn't know this. Ayamae came down right behind him, landing lightly on her feet. She tapped him on the shoulder and faked a punch and jumped up again. Once again, she landed behind him.

"Hey, you baka! Can't you follow my spirit energy or are you totally useless?"

"That's it!" he yelled, turning toward her.

He finally showed his weapon of choice. It was an orange spirit sword.

"I knew I'd get my way!" Ayamae yelled to him.

He swung his sword at her but she dodged, once again, by jumping up and landing behind him. This time she landed and smacked his head roughly.

He fell to the ground on his stomach. Ayamae straddled his hips and pulled out her katana.

"If I were you, I wouldn't even try to get up," she advised.

She then smashed his head into the platform, just hard enough to knock him unconscious.

"Winner, Ayamae!" Genkai announced. "Hiei and Ayamae will fight the next match."

"I knew this would happen," Ayamae muttered to no one in particular.

It was then that Ayamae realized Faith and Kurama were back and that Kuwabara had been taken out of the ring by Yusuke. Ayamae sat down on the concrete platform and began to stretch.

"What are you doing?" Hiei asked.

"What does it look like?"

"Like you're giving me an easy win."

"You can keep dreaming! I never give people easy wins. Nor do I give mercy."

"Then we'll get along just fine."

Ayamae stood up and prepared for her second match.

Genkai gave the signal. "Fight!"

_This should prove rather interesting,_ Hiei thought.

Ayamae only grinned, agreeing with him full-heartedly.

A crack of thunder quickly wiped the grin off Aya's face.

"Faith!" she yelled, changing back into her human form.

"I didn't do it!" Faith replied.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Positive?"

"Yes."

"So sure that you would let me kill you if you're wrong?

"…Okay… maybe only 95 sure."

"Faith!"

"I didn't do it on purpose! Does that help any?"

"Fine. I believe you."

"We could postpone the match if you want," Yusuke said.

"No, Yusuke. Part of my training all these years was how to get along even when the odds were stacked against me. And even if I wanted to, I have a feeling Genkai would not allow it," Ayamae assured, unsheathing her katana.

Hiei and Aya raced toward each other. The clash of steel resonated throughout the clearing.

-Ayamae POV-

"You're stronger than I expected," Hiei informed me.

"Don't underestimate me, Hiei. I'm not even much of a threat right now."

"Why not? I can take anything you can dish out."

"I don't doubt that," I glared. "I just got rained out."

Hiei smirked. "Well, so did I."

"Of course, I've found a way to get around that," I smirked, jumping out of his reach.

I stood still and raised my hands to the sky, but was interrupted.

"I don't think so," Hiei said, suddenly appearing at my side. He got in a quick slice about seven inches long on my left thigh. "Fire Wall!" I screamed, creating a protective wall of fire around myself.

I had to use some energy to make the wall, but it was worth the time delay. I finally achieved what I'd set out to do. The thunder grew louder, the lightning nearer, and the rain fell hard as though it were hail.

_You baka! Don't you know what you've done?! You've drowned your own shield! _Hiei commented.

_Of course I know what I've done! I've overcome my weakness. _I replied.

Hiei glared at me.

"What's that look for?" I asked him, observing his glare.

"You speak in riddles."

"That's the point! Riddles used in speech capture a listener's attention and make them think all at once! It enhances one's intelligence! I may as well raise your IQ while kicking your butt!"

"Good luck with that."

"Just watch me." She looked at her hand as ice cycles formed on it. She grinned and raised her hand until it was level to her mouth. She blew the ice cycles toward Hiei, but he jumped, narrowly missing being hit.

-Faith's POV-

Hiei pulled out his katana as he landed.

Aya smirked. "So, the fun begins," she muttered under her breath.

"I think Genkai did a little too good of a job matching these two up," Kurama muttered in my ear.

"The worst thing is, she can't use her fire attacks… and it looks like her solution to her weakness didn't work," I answered.

We turned back to the fight. After all, it was getting interesting.

Hiei finally pulled out the stops. He ran full speed around the ring, trying to get behind Ayamae. She followed him with her eyes, but soon lost him.

_Where'd he go?_ I heard in my head.

I looked around and finally saw a blur of black.

_Behind you!_

She turned around just has she was thrown to the ground, Hiei's sword at her neck.

-Ayamae's POV-

"I win," Hiei whispered in my ear.

"Oh… but I don't think so…" I replied rather sweetly.

"What do you mean?"

I smirked and glanced down toward our waists.

Hiei glanced down awkwardly. I twisted my dagger slightly so the light glinted off it.

"Draw!" Genkai cried out.

Hiei just looked at me, a look of bewilderment on his face.

"Hiei…"

"What?"

"Get off of me!" I yelled.

Hiei rose slowly, sheathing his katana. He walked away without saying anything.

"Hey, Hiei," I called.

He turned back.

"Nice fight. Hope we get to try again soon, hopefully with nicer weather."

He nodded and walked off.

"So, Foxy, how'd I do?"

"You did great! I hope that cut of yours will be okay, though," she replied, glancing at my thigh.

"Oh. I'd forgotten all about it! I'll just… go up to my room and… you know… fix it up…" I replied, trying to stay strong.

"Aya!" Faith cried, seeing me sag over to the side.

"I'm fine! It's just the whole sight-of-blood thing…"

"Let me help you," Kurama offered, taking hold of my arm.

"No. I'm fine. It's just a little scratch, that's all," I replied, getting back up and limping back to Genkai's temple.

"Come on, Pyra, let us help you," Faith insisted.

"No! I'm fine! I can take care of myself! I've done it for the last ten years!" I yelled at her. I instantly felt bad for yelling at her, after all, she had been there for me always. "Sorry I snapped, Faith. Just… let me take care of myself. If I need help I'll let you know."

I walked up to my room and collapsed on my bed. I lay there, resting for a moment. I finally forced myself up and walked to the bathroom. I dug beneath the counter looking for the peroxide. I found it and walked back to my room.

As I applied it, I couldn't help but suck in a breath through my teeth. The wound must have been deeper than I thought. I forced myself to endure it and wrapped it tightly.

By the time I had finished, my eyelids had grown heavy. I changed into a pair of black, cotton shorts and a black tank top and went to bed, my thoughts on the battle I'd just finished.


	7. Aya's Healing, Faith's Wound

Disclaimer: We do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. We know it's a bit of a shock, but we hope you will get over it.

Faith: Ayamae, can you pleeaaasssseeeee help me with my math.

Ayamae: Sorry, but I'm not home at the moment, but don't leave your name and number b/c I'll never get back to you. Beeeeep!

Faith: Ayamae!

Ayamae: Get Kurama to help you!

Faith: -thinks for a sec. then looks quite cheerful- Ok… Kurama!

Kurama walks in-

Ayamae to Kurama: You're welcome. No need to thank me.

Faith whispers to readers: Kurama and I love tricking her like this. Sorry, but we have to start annoying Aya now. You can read the story while listening to Aya yell at us for 'confusing her with very annoying mathematic equations'.

Chapter Seven: Aya's Healing; Faith's Wound

Faith's POV-

I sat on a grassy hill near Genkai's temple looking up at the night sky. The stars were shining brightly, more than you could ever see in the city. The wind swept across the grass and slightly blew my long, black hair into my face. I finally decided to tie it back and did so using a thin, black hair tie I found in my pocket. I heard footsteps come up behind me and stealthily pulled out my dagger.

"Mind if I join you," came Yusuke's voice.

I sighed and nodded.

He sat down next to me and I knew he had seen my dagger before it had been returned to its sheath.

"Sorry if I scared you," he apologized.

"You didn't. It's just if you grew up the way I did you'd do the same, unsheathing your weapon at any sound unfamiliar or anyone who approached you from behind."

"Would you mind sharing or is that still a boundary?"

"Still a boundary."

Flashback-

"Faith, run! Go hide in the forest! I'll find you!" my 15-year-old brother yelled to me while taking time to examine the gash on his arm.

"I can help!" I cried.

"No! I want you to go now!" He turned around to block a demon's fist. "GO! You'll only distract me." _I love you and I don't want anything to happen to you. Do this for me._ "Go!"

I ran as fast as I could and stopped just inside the forest. _Kieran! _No one answered. _Kieran, please answer me. This isn't funny!_ Again, there was no answer. _I should have stayed and helped. God, I'm such an idiot!_ I fell to my knees and slammed my fist into the ground. Just then a vision of my dead brother flooded my mind and I felt the same pain he had felt before he died. It was so intense that I passed out, falling into the darkness where I would remain for years to come.

End Flashback-

I shoved the scene out of my mind and my thoughts strayed to Ayamae. _Why did she snap at me earlier? And what was with 'I can take care of myself! I've done it for the last ten years!' Hadn't I been there for her? Hadn't I helped her through all her hardships from the time we met till now? _These thoughts kept nagging at me until I realized Yusuke had left and Kurama now sat beside me.

"You should talk to her tomorrow."

"Do my emotions show that clearly?"

"No. I can feel it. Your mind is calling for answers so loudly that I can almost hear your thoughts without even trying."

"Sorry." I looked back up at the night sky, trying to clear my mind of all thoughts.

"It's ok. It would help if I knew what happened to you in the past."

I got up. "I'm going to bed. See ya in the morning." With that, I walked off toward the temple.

Next morning-

I sat on the living room couch reading when Ayamae walked in and sat in the chair beside my couch. Hiei sat on the windowsill, looking out of its window. Kurama and Genkai were in the kitchen while Yusuke and Kuwabara were still asleep.

Ayamae seemed to sense the questions I wanted to ask because she had started to answer them. "Again, I'm sorry I snapped at you yesterday. I guess it's the sudden changes of my life and being around people 24/7. As for the comment about me taking care of myself for the past ten years, I have no idea why I said it. It's not at all true and we both know that. I guess it's because… our…" (Just for you guys who don't know, she was about to say 'because our families weren't there to raise us.' You're Welcome!)

I interrupted, "I know what you are trying to say and I think you might be right. I'm sorry I had to ask. I should have known, but I guess I really wanted to hear you say it."

Ayamae smiled and got up, heading for the kitchen. Seconds later she came back out. "We have to wake up the humans."

"I'll get Kuwabara and you can get Yusuke. Try yelling the word 'food' in his ear. Kuwabara says that's the only way to wake him up."

She nodded and went off to Yusuke's room, limping as she went. I knew she wouldn't let me help her so I would have to do it without her knowing, at least at first. I went off to Kuwabara's room. He was sprawled out on the bed, tangled in his sheets.

_Typical._

I grabbed him by the collar of his white, night shirt and dragged him off the bed and into the adjoining bathroom. I put his head under the faucet of the bathtub and turned the knob to its coldest temperature. Instantly he jumped up, fully awake and I turned off the water. He looked at me with that 'I'm-going-to-get-you-for-that' look.

"Breakfast is ready."

After breakfast-

I, again, sat on the couch reading and Ayamae sat next to me, arguing about some pointless thing with Yusuke.

"Kurama," I started, looking up from my book, "What school do you go to?"

"Meiou High. Why do you ask?"

"I thought so. We go to the same school. I am actually in all your classes."

"Really? I haven't seen you."

"You wouldn't. I'm almost never there. There's usually something better to do."

"You skip?"

"Yeah, I usually end up in fights a lot and Aya tries to break them up. Then we both get in trouble. So much so, that the principal has our phone number on speed dial."

Yusuke and Aya stopped arguing.

"Are you kidding!" Yusuke asked.

"No, she's not, unfortunately," Aya sighed.

"That's amazing. You're worse than me."

I shook my head, "I wouldn't bet on it."

Yusuke looked confused for a moment and then he and Aya resumed their arguing. I reached up and put my hand on Aya's shoulder and she looked at me.

"Don't waste your time arguing with him. It's quite a pointless subject."

My hand was glowing slightly as I spoke and she didn't notice until it was too late. Blood started to seep through my pant leg. I had transferred Ayamae's wound to myself.

"Faith!"

Both Kurama and I put our book down. Kuwabara looked up from his video game and Hiei turned his gaze from the window to the two of us. They all noticed my blood-stained pants.

"I heal at least three times faster than you do. There was no reason for you to walk around with this wound for weeks when I can heal it in a couple days."

I could tell she saw the logic behind my words, but that didn't stop her from talking to me about it some more.

"You could have asked."

"You would have said no and that you would have asked for help eventually, but that would be a lie."

She thought for a moment, "You're right. It's just I don't want you to suffer for something that I did."

"Technically, Hiei did it."

"If I had waited till a better time to summon that attack I wouldn't have been hurt in the first place."

"Just forget about it, Aya. It's fine."

She didn't argue any further but I could tell she was worried, especially when I walked to my room, though I was limping considerably less than she did.


	8. A New Friend And Pasts Revealed

Disclaimer: We do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. I know this is a lot to take in at once, but I'm sure you'll recover in a couple years.

Onward!

Chapter Eight: A New Friend & Pasts' Revealed

"I'm gonna kill her for that," Aya muttered, watching Faith walk away.

"Then do so. That makes less work for me," Hiei said from the window.

"Don't make me repeat myself," she sighed, referring to what she told Kuwabara during their 'fight'.

"Hn."

Aya rolled her eyes and turned away from him, rising to her feet and walking to her room. She pulled out The Vampire Lestat and started to read.

With Kuwabara and Yusuke in the kitchen-

"Shrimp sure does talk a lot when she's around," Kuwabara commented.

"Yeah, you're right," Yusuke agreed.

"She is a kindred spirit to him. He can't help but do so," Kurama said from the doorway.

"You have a way of appearing behind my back, don't you?" Kuwabara complained.

"Only because you don't pay enough attention to what's around you," Kurama replied.

"Because I'm home! I shouldn't have to watch my back in my down time!"

"Hey! Let's go! You guys have a mission!" Botan's voice came from the front door.

"See what I mean?" Kurama said.

Faith entered from the living room as the group looked around to see that Ayamae was still not there.

"Where's Ayamae?" Yusuke asked.

"Probably reading," Faith replied.

"Couldn't she be listening to music too?" Yusuke answered.

"No."

"How do you know?"

"You'd have heard it by now," Faith replied simply.

"I'll go get her!" Kuwabara cried out.

"No. You don't want to go get her. I will. Only I know how to make her emerge from a book," Faith said, walking down the hall toward Aya's room.

Faith opened the door and filled the room with a blinding light. Ayamae didn't look up or away, but lifted the book to block the light and continued to read.

"Well, now I know that that doesn't work," Faith muttered to herself.

"Aya, could you kill someone for me?" she asked aloud.

"Who?" Ayamae asked excitedly, lowering the book from her sight.

"Well, technically we have a mission, but that usually means we get to kill someone," Faith replied. "Come on. We need to go."

"Already?"

"Apparently. I guess Koenma got lazy recently."

"Alright, but don't think I want to do this," Ayamae sighed, leading the way to the living room to find the rest waiting by the door.

"I hope that book of yours was interesting," Hiei stated.

"Of course it was. I was reading it," Ayamae retorted. She turned to Botan and asked, "So, what's the mission pacifier face is sending us on?"

"There is a demon going to attack a human pet store. Basically, Koenma wants you to kill the demon before he destroys the shop," Botan explained.

"The poor little kitties and puppies!" Faith cried as her hands flew to her mouth.

"Let me change real fast," Ayamae said, walking to her room.

When she came back moments later, she had a hooded cloak on.

"What's with the cloak?" Yusuke asked.

"I don't need to scare the humans, only the demon."

"How would you scare the humans?" Kuwabara asked.

"I can't take the time to change to my demon form. And wouldn't you, as a human, be frightened by an inferno engulfing someone in front of your eyes?"

"Let's go! I don't need Koenma blaming me for the shop being destroyed!" Botan cried out, breaking the conversation.

A portal appeared before them and she led the way. "Good luck," she said as they crossed the street to the targeted shop.

"We won't need it. The demon against Faith and I, on the other hand, will," Ayamae said as she took up the rear.

"There he is," Kuwabara pointed out a puke-green, wide-eyed, fang-bearing demon with a long snout that was walking into the pet shop.

"No? You think?" Ayamae said sarcastically, "I never would have guessed! You're so intelligent, Kuwabara!"

"Thank you!" Kuwabara replied.

Aya could not reply to his stupidity. All she could come up with was a look that said 'I don't believe anyone could be that stupid!'

"Wow! Aya's speechless!" Faith cried out.

"Let's get this done already so we can go home," Yusuke interrupted, starting to walk into the store.

The others followed him into the shop and looked around. They soon saw the demon holding the cashier against the wall by his shirt collar.

"Where are they?" he yelled.

"Who?" the human asked, bewildered by the experience.

"The girls! The two girls that will be the end of Hiroyuki! The demon girls, Faith and Ayamae," the demon yelled in response.

"Look, Faith! We have a fan!" Ayamae cried out sarcastically.

"So… you've finally come out of hiding. It's about time. Hiroyuki was wondering if someone had killed you before he got the chance," the demon spoke.

"Put the human down. It's us you want, but you have to come get us if you want us that badly," Faith told him.

"Do you think I'm really that stupid?"

"Well, if you really want to know…" Faith started.

"Shut up! You've only lasted this long on pure luck. The only problem you have is that your luck just ran out," the demon said, dropping the human and advancing toward the girls.

"Baka. You should know that luck makes no difference to us. We survive on the ability to kill all who oppose us. You just happen to be that adversary right now, no matter how simple you will be," Ayamae said, lowering her hood.

"Do you really think I'm going to be scared now? I'm never scared."

"Then you have quite the weakness then, don't you? Fear tells you what and who to stay away from," Faith informed him.

The demon snarled at the girls, but said nothing.

"Look Ayamae! We made the demon speechless! That's a new one; a speechless demon," Faith marveled.

_Technically, I was speechless from Kuwabara's stupidity earlier,_ Ayamae pointed out.

It was then that the demon started his attack by charging at them, his arm into the air.

Ayamae rolled her eyes as she saw this. _Stupid, low class baka. _

The two girls stood still, arms crossed. An identical grin crossed their faces. Kuwabara was going crazy over them just standing there, but they all ignored him. The demon swung his fist at them, but Faith uttered two words: "Night Shield." The demon hit the shield head on and it sent him flying into the wall.

"I told you that you were a baka. Faith also said that you had quite the weakness because you didn't fear. Now we will show you what we mean," Ayamae said, shaking her head and putting her hands together. She lowered her head so that her forehead touched her fingertips. She pushed her right hand out, both palms facing her opponent.

"Clear Inferno," she yelled.

The demon sunk to his knees, his screams of pain caught in his throat by the power of the attack.

Ayamae's POV-

"What have you done to him?" Kuwabara asked, watching the wreathing demon.

"Put simply, he feels as though he's caught in an inescapable inferno," I replied, not turning around.

_That's a nice attack. How'd you do it?_ Hiei asked in my head.

_Imagine an inferno engulfing him. I have telepathy, so it works._

"Aya! Stop flirting! We have work to do!" Faith suddenly interrupted.

"Excuse me? You should know me better than that! I don't trust anyone, especially men! Why would I ever flirt?" I yelled, completely forgetting about my attack. By forgetting my attack, I'd caused it to falter and fail, so the demon was free of my attack, but still in slight pain.

"Yay! Now I get to kill him!" Faith cheered.

"Faith! We can't kill him yet! Koenma would want information from him. We should take him in," I explained.

"Who cares about Koenma? I say we get the information from him and kill him!"

"Fine, but if he yells at us, you get to take the blame," I agreed, not feeling like fighting with her again.

No one's POV-

Ayamae walked over to the demon and lifted him telepathically. "What's Hiroyuki's next plan, assuming he knew you would fail?" she asked, not believing he would answer, but it was worth a shot.

"I'm not telling you weaklings anything!"

That's too bad. I really didn't want to have to use my inferno on you again, but if that's what it takes…" Ayamae drifted off, backing away slightly. She raised her hands to her forehead again and fired the attack. "Just let me know when you're ready to talk," she said coolly.

"Are you sure this is necessary?" Faith asked, wishing to get on with her attack that she never got to start.

"Yes, we need to know why we are to die," Aya explained. She stopped her attack upon the demon. "Are you ready to talk, or do I continue my attack?"

"He wants you dead because of a prophecy he heard," the demon answered, his voice now high-pitched and weak.

"Ah, I remember now," Faith remembered.

"What's his next move? I can tell that he knew you would fail. He knew we would defeat you and question you. I know he told you what things he wanted us to know. If you won't tell us… I'll leave it as things won't be pleasant," Ayamae said, her right hand on the hilt of her katana.

"I don't know anything. I'm only the grunt in this operation. Sayuri is the real danger to you," the demon slipped.

"So the truth is revealed," Faith muttered. She turned excitedly to Ayamae. "Can I kill him now?" Ayamae nodded and walked back to the rest of the group.

"Light Shards," Faith said deeply, forming the attack in her hands. She threw them at the demon and they embedded themselves into his arms and legs. "Pyra, would you…?" she requested.

Ayamae's POV-

"With pleasure," I replied, sending the demon crashing into the wall.

"You're lucky you've lasted this long. I would have killed you from the start, had I had my way," Faith told the demon, unsheathing her katana. "Allow me to demonstrate," she said, approaching her opponent. She slowly ran her blade across his neck, making a shallow, yet painful, cut. "Example A." She moved the blade to his stomach. "And example B," she said, slicing into his body, slowly killing him.

I watched my normally kind friend slowly destroy the demon, a look of almost pleasure in my crimson eyes. "Faith," I whispered, knowing what had to be done, "stop. I wish to finish him."

"Ooooh! Do I have to?"

"Only Hiroyuki should die the way you intend to kill him. Please. I wish to do this."

"Fine," she said, walking back to our companions.

I didn't advance upon him though. I dropped him from the wall and held him there. "My attack is for the innocent creatures you would have hurt had we not stopped you," I told him. I lifted my right hand and watched the fireball appear. "Look upon your death as a merciful one," I said, sending the fireball hovering toward him slowly. I suddenly smiled, sped the fireball toward its target.

The demon gasped, realizing that his death would not be a gentle one. He burst into flames, but no sound came, for he was but a pile of ash in three seconds flat.

"That's merciful!" Yusuke yelled.

"I stopped his slow, painful death and made it quick. He should be thankful that it was so," I explained, turning to leave. But I turned back a second later. To my left was a small kitten.

He was black with white paws and another spot on his chest. I couldn't turn him away. On top of how cute he was, I could tell that he could be cuddly and cute as well as ferocious.

"Hey, cutie," I said, getting down on my knees. He cocked his head to the side and meowed sweetly. "Do you want to come home with me?" He meowed again and jumped into my arms.

"A cat?" Hiei asked from behind me.

"Actually, he's a kitten. My kitten."

"Hn."

"What are you going to name him?" Faith asked.

"Kuma."

No one's POV-

Botan entered the shop and looked around, her eyes wide from shock. "Well, you girls did a lovely job."

"Aww, thank you, Botan… even though Aya doesn't deserve it."

"What do you mean!" Aya asked.

"You know damn well what I mean!"

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do," she paused, but continued when she saw the questioning look on Aya's face. "Three words: Demon, me, torture. Ring a bell?"

"Faith," she sighed, "I told you, only Hiroyuki deserves that."

"And that demon because I felt like it!"

"Are you that weak? Are you so scared of the world that you must kill those that do not have the strength to defend themselves?"

Faith's jaw dropped in astonishment along with everyone else's, but Faith quickly recovered, "Oh, and this is coming from someone who does just that, kill weaker demons!"

"But I made it quick, not slow and painful as you had intended. I let him know that I killed him for his intended action against these innocent animals and any unlucky humans who might have passed by."

"Since when would you pass up a good chance to torture someone?"

"I only enjoy watching them suffer for a short time. Then I want them dead and out of my mind. You are the mastermind for torture. I simply don't want to waste your genius plans that are waiting in that evil brain of yours on any lesser opponent than Hiroyuki. He is the reason we are where we are now. He is the reason we carry weapons and are in the company of two human bakas from now on."

"Thank you, Aya! I never knew you appreciated my torturing talents that much and technically it's one and a half human bakas."

"You're welcome and thanks for correcting me. It's one and a half."

Faith and Aya turned back to the gang and Botan.

"Let's go. I need to make up a bed for my baby," Ayamae said, leading the way out.

"I didn't know you were pregnant! Man! You sure do hide it well!" Kuwabara gasped.

"I didn't mean a baby like you foolish humans think of. I mean my new companion. You know, the kitten here in my arms. He is the only type of baby I will ever have," Aya explained.

"Do you mean that I'll never get to hear myself called 'Auntie Faith'?"

"Not by any children from me. I'll never love, never take a mate, and definitely never have children of my own."

"That's a relief. At least there won't be any little loudmouths running around chasing us as we leave for a mission," Hiei muttered from the back of the group.

"Actually, Faith will have little kitsune children running after her, so that'll be worse than all the children that could possibly come from me," Ayamae corrected.

"Thank you, Aya."

"I speak the truth. Only the truth."

"Yeah, right. You only tell the truth either when it suits you or just when you feel like it." Faith corrected.

Aya thought for a moment, "True. Right now I simply felt like it. It's a trait that comes with a life like ours."

"I thought you wanted to make a bed for your new pet," Yusuke interrupted.

"Well, that would be happening now, but wouldn't we need a portal for that to be possible?" Ayamae hinted.

"I'll request one," Kurama volunteered. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pink compact.

"Uh… are you putting on makeup or something? I mean, you really are an attractive guy without it," Faith commented.

He blushed slightly, but not enough for anyone to notice.

"We really need to get Koenma to remodel those things," Yusuke inputted.

"Yeah. I'm assuming that we'll be getting those things too?" Faith asked.

"Yes, you will," Kurama answered. "They are to communicate with Koenma."

"No way in hell is he going to get one of things in my possession! No way! I love my roll-on glitter to a point, but if I even thought about getting a compact it would be an insult to who I am!" Aya commented, touching her face slightly, glitter flaking off and floating to the ground.

"Yeah, whatever," Yusuke said putting his hands behind his head and closing his eyes.

"He'll have one…" Kurama started, but stopped, seeing the portal appear before him.

"That works," Aya said, walking through it and emerging in Genkai's living room. She quickly stepped aside, narrowly missing being landed on by Kuwabara as he fell.

As the rest of the team came through, trouble was inevitable. Hiei came through last. Luckily, he saw the pile of people and quickly jumped over them all. Faith lay on top of Kuwabara and under Kurama, who, again,was blushing slightly. Yusuke was the lucky one on top.

"As much as I love being squashed by you guys… would you GET OFF!" Faith yelled as best as she could.

"And why should I," Yusuke asked lazily.

Kurama stood up, knocking Yusuke onto the floor and offered his hand to Faith. She looked at it and then up at him, seconds later taking it. "Thanks," she muttered, rising to her feet.

"So, what's the deal with you and this Hiroyuki guy," Yusuke asked, plopping down on the couch.

"Faith, you can tell them. I've got a pet to take care of and a book to read," Ayamae said, walking down the hall to her room, crooning to Kuma the whole way.

With Faith and the gang-

Everyone was seated on the couches or in Hiei's case in the window seat. They all had their eyes on Faith but she remained silent.

"Well, Aya and I met in a dungeon, if you can believe it. That's when we met Hiroyuki and learned of our parents' death by his hands. Before that encounter, when we didn't know each other, we both…" Faith paused. Tears were forming in her eyes due to the memory of her brother's death but she none-the-less continued. "We both felt our brothers' pain and death. We can start with Aya. Her brother, Haru, was two and a half years older than her, making him nine at the time. He used his power to teleport her away from the battle, just like in her vision that she had of her brother dying. As for me, my brother, Kieran, who was eight and a half years older than me, making him fifteen at the time, commanded that I leave. Although, it took him a while to actually get me to leave," Faith explained, smiling at the thought. "He promised he'd find me. Guess the demon was more skilled than we both thought. If you haven't already guessed, we never really dealt with their deaths. We kind of just pushed it out of our minds. That's how we got to where we are now."

Faith's POV-

I felt a tear run down my cheek which was nothing compared to what Kuwabara was dishing out. He was bawling like there was no tomorrow. I stood up shakily and wiped the tear away. "If you don't mind I'm going to… go… somewhere." I walked out the door and once I was a good distance away from the temple I ran full speed to nowhere in particular.

With Ayamae and Kuma; No one's POV-

"There you go, Kuma," Ayamae said while putting him in a fairly big-sized basket filled with blankets, Kuma letting out a long meow.

Ayamae sat in her chair and started to read more of her book. Seconds later she heard a meow and felt something jump on her lap. She lowered her book and saw Kuma curling up and yawning. She shook her head and continued reading.

Well, that's all folks!


	9. Feelings?

Disclaimer: We do not own Yu Yu Hakusho, but we do own Faith, Ayamae, and Hiroyuki.

I (Aya) would like to say thanks to all those out there that like our story! Anyway, let the story begin!

Chapter Nine: Feelings?

I ended up in a clearing surrounded by trees. In the middle was a lake with a medium-sized waterfall and a big, flat rock that jutted out from the earth and horizontally over the water, three and a half feet of air between it and the surface of the water. I went over to it and sat down, my legs hanging over the edge.

"Are you ok?" Kurama's voice came from behind me.

"I'll be fine."

"I've heard that one before." He sat down beside me, "You miss him, don't you? Your eyes are always filled with sadness, no matter how happy you look."

I looked away. I didn't want him to see how much his words had affected me.

Kurama's POV-

"Faith?"

She hesitated and then turned her head back to me. Tears were falling from her eyes and down her face. I drew her into a hug, my hand smoothing out her long, black hair as she cried. Her head lay against my chest and her arms were folded over her stomach. I picked her up and set her on my lap.

Faith's POV-

He talked to me soothingly, "Shhh, it's going to be ok," he whispered into my ear. "Let it all out."

Fifteen minutes later, I had stopped crying but my eyes were red and I sniffled every once in a while. We walked back to the temple, which took a couple hours, and I saw everyone including Genkai and Ayamae in the living room, Aya sitting in Hiei's usual spot. She turned her head towards me.

"Faith, what's wrong?" she asked getting up and walking towards me, Hiei using his god-like speed and appearing where Aya had been sitting.

"Not now, Aya," I muttered and went to my room.

No one's POV-

"What's up with her?" Yusuke asked, staring at the direction Faith just went.

"She's finally dealing with her brother's death," Kurama sighed.

Aya looked like she had just been hit by a very large truck. "What happened?" she asked quietly.

"Telling us about her past stirred up some bad memories."

Aya was slowly getting mad. She turned and punched the wall leaving a huge hole, "How could I have been so stupid! I should have explained it with her! In a way her brother's death was harder for her than mine."

"How's that?" Hiei asked.

"She shared a mental connection with her brother. They knew each other inside and out. They would have been twins if they weren't eight and a half years apart."

Aya sagged to the floor.

"Don't blame yourself. Let Faith rest and we'll see how she is tomorrow," Kurama said wisely.

10:00 that night-

Kurama went off to bed. Slowly, everyone followed until only Aya and Hiei were left in the room. Aya now sat with her back to the wall, her knees brought up to her chest and her arms resting on them with her head against the wall, tilted toward the ceiling. She felt Hiei's gaze on her and opened her eyes. He stood beside her, looking down at her troubled expression. Amazingly, he put his hand on her shoulder in reassurance and then went off to his room. Aya smiled and thought back to the encounter between them while Faith and Kurama were gone.

Flashback-

Ayamae read the last words of her book and put it down. "I need to get the sequel," she muttered to herself, propping her arms to get up. She suddenly felt razor sharp spikes dig into her left thigh. She looked down hastily, only to find Kuma stretching. "Come on, little one," she said softly, lifting him gently and placing him in his bed.

She walked toward the hall, but turned back at the door. "So sweet and innocent," she sighed and continued to walk to the living room.

Hiei was still sitting in the window seat, much to Ayamae's displeasure.

"Move," she told him.

"Why should I?"

"I want the window seat. I would like to look outside once in a while, you know."

"I've had this seat known as mine since I was first forced to be in the company of these bakas. What makes you think I'm going to simply get up the instant some female comes near me?"

"I don't expect that from you. I expect you to move when **I** tell you to."

"Well, that will never happen."

"Do you really think so?"

"Yes, actually."

"What will you do if I make you move?"

"I'd be amused if you succeeded."

"Than prepare to be amused," Aya said, climbing over Hiei toward the window. When she went to sit down, she found his leg beneath her. "Move your leg!"

"No."

"Don't make me hurt you."

"I'd like to see you try."

"I have my ways..." she said slowly, climbing over him to straddle his legs.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting my way," she answered, her voice low as she ran her hand down his cheek and lightly ran her fingertips across his chest.

Ayamae's POV-

_This probably isn't too good for my 'no feelings' disposition, but so long as I get my way. I just hope no one comes in here, unless it's Faith_, was the first thought to enter my mind, after putting up a mental block, of course. However, like all well made plans go, there was the overlooked detail that seems small, but is truly cataclysmic.

I'd felt my eyes grow dark and my lids become half-closed. I'd known this wasn't good. I looked into Hiei's crimson eyes and knew what caused his eyes to widen the way they did. I breathed in deeply through my nose and smelt the most dreaded scent any demon could smell: in my case, musk mixed with a slight hint of vanilla.

'God, no!' I thought, losing control of myself. My actions, which had started out as a playful act to get my way, were quickly transforming themselves into an all out seduction. My body had taken over. Everything I did was basically out of my control. The primal side of me had decided that now was as good a time as any to make itself known.

I was in heat.

This was not what I wanted, but I was powerless to stop it. I was a prisoner in my own body. I saw my hands caressing Hiei's muscular body in ways that were nowhere near my original plan. My hands moved toward his shirt and began to slowly pull it loose from his pants.

Inside I was blushing and wishing anyone would come in the room right now... anyone! I found myself unable to send telepathic messages to anyone. In addition, I was appalled that Hiei allowed this to continue! He knew the state I was in and how helpless I truly was! Why did he not stop this! I was so angry! I wanted to lie down, close my eyes, and die right then. As much as I knew I cared about Faith, I didn't want to see this continue!

Suddenly, as I unbuckled the top buckle of Hiei's belt, I saw Kuma out of the corner of my eye. He lowered his head and chest to the ground and hunched his back. A menacing hiss came from his innocent-looking body. I blinked harshly and found myself in control again. I quickly got off Hiei and ran into my bedroom as fast as my legs could carry me.

I closed my bedroom door as I ran in and buried my face in my pillows. I was breathing hard, and held my head in my hands once I was settled enough to sit on the bed facing the wall. I was trembling! I was actually trembling! This was a first for me, but... so was losing control of myself while in heat. I could tell, even in my shaken state, that there was something special about Hiei, as much as I despised admitting it to myself. I sat there for a while and thought of the reasons that could cause my behavior to have been the way it was. I finally figured out why... and found the answer unpleasant.

"... I can't love. I especially can't love him!" I muttered to myself. _I mean, I'm the queen of ice hearts! ... Aren't I?_

End Flashback-

Aya stood up and went to bed with the memory still floating around in her mind.

Next Morning; Faith's POV-

I stepped out of the training room to see Kurama standing there. "Hey," I acknowledged.

"Good morning. How did you sleep?"

I started walking down the hall, ignoring his question.

"I know you went to bed at 11 last night, but what I want to know is how long you actually slept. I know you were up and training at least around four this morning."

"1:30 actually. I only slept for about half an hour."

I looked at him. Worry was written all over his face. "Don't worry. I'm dealing with it as best I can and that should be enough."

The look on his face didn't change, "Hopefully."

Later that afternoon in Faith's room-

Ayamae walked in and saw me and my sketchpad sprawled out on my bed. "What are you drawing?"

"A picture of Hiei."

"Let me see," Ayamae said, letting her voice turn serious.

I looked at her and grinned evilly. "You like him," Faith said playfully.

A deep red blush appeared on her face, almost as fast as Hiei taking his seat back when Aya got up the other day. "No."

"Aya's in love. Aya's in love," I taunted.

"Shut up and let me see it."

I held it up for her to view. "Hiei looks cute as a bunny."

"He's a lot cuter in real life."

"Ha! You just admitted it! You DO like him."

"So, you like Kurama."

"Yeah, your point?"

Aya seemed disappointed that I wasn't shy about the subject.

"Give me the picture of Hiei."

"What picture," Hiei's voice came from behind the door.

We both looked in that direction and sure enough, there he was. I held up the picture again and I could tell he was angry.

"Give me the picture," he commanded, walking toward me.

"No," I smiled.

"Give it to him, Faith."

I grinned evilly and then ran out of the room, sketchpad still in hand. Ending up in the living room, I saw Kurama come in so I ran and hid behind him.

"Why are you hiding behind me?"

Part of his question was answered when Hiei appeared in the room followed by Aya.

"What did you do?" Kurama asked, changing his question.

"She drew a picture of Hiei."

"Let me see."

I partially came out from behind him and showed it to him.

"You look good as a bunny," Kurama teased. "And you," he said looking at me, "have excellent drawing skills."

I blushed and I could tell he noticed because something in his eyes flickered. The something I had seen in his eye when we first met. I pushed it aside and tore the page out of the pad, handing it to Hiei. "I was going to post on the refrigerator just to let ya know." Everyone seemed surprised that I gave it up that easily but didn't question me about it.

Hiei left, as did Aya, but Kurama had asked me to stay a moment.

"Why did you give up that picture so easily?"

I laughed, "Because I have another." I flipped to the previous page and there it was.

He laughed also. I suddenly remembered yesterday at the lake, walked up to him and hugged him.

"What's this for?"

"All you did for me yesterday. It helped a lot even though it doesn't really look it."

"Any time."

Late that Night (10-ish)-

I stood in the lake I had previously discovered in my short black shorts and a black, bikini, swimming top. The water went up to mid-stomach where I was. My hands lay palms up on top of the water and my head was tilted back toward the sky with my eyes closed.

No one's POV-

A ball of light formed a foot above her, ending up five inches in diameter. She opened her eyes and turned around to see Kurama sitting on the rock just as the day before. The light grew brighter, but then quickly went back to its original luminous glow. She couldn't help but smile as she waded over to the rock and stood right in front of him, looking up at his face.

"Care to join me?" Kurama asked. "Or do I have to come and get you."

"I will take the second option."

"I was joking about that."

All of the sudden it was pitch black, at least to him.

"Faith? Faith, where are you?"

He moved to stand up but then felt like he was falling, only for a second or two though. All of a sudden, it was as bright as before and just as dark as before too. He now stood in the lake a couple feet away from the rock with Faith standing in front of him.

"You did that, didn't you?"

"You bet." She smiled proudly.

Her smile slowly faded and she found herself staring into his piercing, green eyes. She couldn't look away and neither could he for he was doing the exact same as her. He moved a piece of hair out of her face, but his hand remained on her cheek. He slowly leaned forward and kissed her lightly, yet it made both of them tremble slightly. He pulled back only a centimeter before he wrapped his other arm around her waist and pulled her to him, kissing her with so much passion that her ball of light flared brighter than ever. She regained control and dimmed it from its original brightness, creating a soft glow over both of them. She returned his passion and it suddenly became aware to her that the something she had seen in his eyes before was love. She knew love at first sight was rare and never thought it would happen to her, which made this an even more loving moment.


	10. Love?

Disclaimer: We do not own YYH, though we lament this fact daily.

Note: Sorry it took so long to update! I hope you enjoy the chapter I've worked so hard to finish!

We thank everyone who reviews! Of course, we ask that only **constructive** criticism be sent in, though. That and any suggestions! We can always use input, but, as I said, keep it positive. And, no, that doesn't include calling Ayamae and Faith 'Mary-Sues'. That kinda ruins the happiness we feel when writing this. I mean, if we get too many more of them, we'll probably just ask for anyone that likes the story and would like it emailed to them, when we get more done, to send us their email address and not post it anymore. (Consider this a warning! Do not take this lightly!)

Well, on with the story!

Chapter 10: Love?

With Ayamae while Faith and Kurama were out-

Ayamae awoke with the sun shinning harshly in her eyes. Even in her half-asleep state she figured, judging by her room's location and where the sun was, that it must be later in the morning. A glance at the bedside table clock confirmed her hypothesis. 10:00 in the morning! She'd never, I do mean **never,** slept in that late before! She didn't really care, though. The bed was comfortable and warm. That's all that mattered to her at the moment.

She lay still for a time, but quickly grew bored. She rose and walked to the bathroom. Her shower was warm, so warm, the mirror fogged up within a minute. She let the water run over her, the warmth soothed her body and her mind all at once.

She emerged, relaxed and ready for some serious, hard-core practice. She dressed in a pair of black cotton pants and a black wife-beater with the word 'flag' inscribed with sequins. As she walked out the door, she grabbed her black dance shoes and her flag with a dark blue silk.

The outdoor ring was perfect for practice. The occasional breeze would whip her hair or the flag's silk into her face. She felt the sun's rays on her body and the concrete blocks of the field through the soles of her dance shoes.

She placed the flag on the ground and stretched her muscles thoroughly. She thought she'd heard the rustle of leaves, as though someone were walking through the woods, but dismissed the thought as she grabbed her flag.

In the window with Hiei, watching Aya; Hiei's POV-

_Why had I let all that go as far as it had? I'd known the situation better than even she had. I'd smelt it on her from the moment I'd met her, even if she didn't notice it. Why hadn't I stopped it? I could have moved when she'd commanded, but that would have meant seeming weak and easy to control. _

_No one will ever control me! I can't allow it! But… the things I felt when she began to touch me… I don't know how to interpret them! Arousal isn't new to me; it can't be to any man. The smell of a female in heat alone could affect any demon! _

_But… the way her eyes had darkened, the way her hair had framed her face… I couldn't make myself stop her! I… I didn't even want to! I wanted to take her and show her… show her what? What she'd done? What I could make her feel? What we could do together? Well, I don't need to worry about it. This demon may solve my problem now… but… I won't let him kill her. I want to figure out these feelings first. Anyway, I want to be the one to slit her throat, if anyone does._

With Aya in the ring; No one's POV-

She snapped to preset and quickly moved into right shoulder. She moved to drop-spins, counting aloud as she went. She heard the leaves rustle again, closer this time, and there was no wind. She continued to work with her flag, but listened intently, no longer counting.

Again, the sound of movement in the brush reached her ears. This time, she also heard a harsh voice whisper, "Ow! Stupid thorns!"

Ayamae sighed and rolled her eyes. _Stupid low-class demon,_ she thought. "I know you're there, so stop wasting both our time. If you're going to attack me, just do it already." As she said this, she spun around, still spinning her flag.

"But I'm going to do more than attack and kill you," the demon said.

"Really? Like what?"

"Have my way with a flexible, little, human, guard girl, for example."

"You couldn't even get within six feet of me."

The demon snarled, thoroughly enraged that she thought him weak. Unbeknownst to him, he really didn't have a clue how weak he truly was.

He charged, only to see Ayamae throw her flag high into the air as a spin. She hooked her right foot in front of her left and spun her body. When she reached the front again, she caught the flag, silk down. She took the guard flag and rammed the top end into his face. He stumbled backward and it took a while for him to regain his balance and start his charge again. She sighed and tossed the flag high in the air again. Instead of spinning, she took this time, while the demon was looking at the flag, to punch him in the face and perform a leg sweep. She stood up and caught the flag, silk down this time. She watched as the demon slowly stood back up. It took longer for him to recover this time and Ayamae could tell that he had more than a mild concussion. This time, she rammed the bottom of the flag, the weighted end, into his nose. The butt of the flag emerged from the back of his skull, blood gushing from both openings. The now-dead demon fell backward, the flag sliding out as this happened.

Aya looked at the end of the pole and grimaced slightly, but not because of the blood amount, but the stench of it. She glanced around, muttering, "Where's the hose?"

"Over there," Hiei said from the window. Ayamae turned slowly, hiding her surprise that he was there.

"Were you watching me?"

Hiei nodded.

"And you didn't help?"

Hiei shook his head, "You seemed to have it under control."

"Well thank you, for what I'm assuming is a compliment. Now, where's the hose?"

"Can't you take the blood, onna?"

"I can take the amount, but the stench, ugh! It's disgusting! Even for that low class demon!"

Hiei shook his head, thinking her weak.

"Just tell me where the fucking hose is."

"It's over there," he replied, tilting his head to the right.

"Could you get it for me? I'm a little tied up, here."

"No."

"Dumb-ass."

"What did you say, baka onna?"

"I called you a dumb-ass. Now, get your lazy ass up and get me the hose. I have better things to do than spend all day searching for it!"

"Like what?"

"Work on my guard routine! Justin's gonna kill me for missing practice yesterday as it is!"

"Who's Justin? Your human bitch?"

"Actually, Justin is my GAY guard instructor! He has a boyfriend!"

"Well, why does it matter, then?"

"Because I enjoy guard! It's something for me to be good at! So, why don't we save this little chat for when I have the hose in my hand and I'm spraying off the ring and my guard flag?"

"Fine," Hiei said, jumping from the window and walking over around the side of the building. He came back a moment later, pulling a hose behind him.

Ayamae stared in disbelief. _Hiei'd given in? This is… scary…_

"Thanks… I guess," Aya said as Hiei approached, unsure of his intentions.

Hiei smirked, and then let the water flow. He sprayed her from head to toe, the water ice cold on her skin. She screamed, the high-pitched sound hurting even her own ears. Hiei dropped the hose, his hands rushing to his ears to block out the sound.

Aya stood there, dripping wet with the cold liquid. She was so cold, she could not force her body to change shape, and the inferno to do so would not light! Her teeth chattered rapidly, goose bumps covering her whole body.

"Hiei… Jaganshi…" she said, "You will pay for that. Maybe not now, but you will pay dearly!"

Hiei's hands had returned to his sides, but he seemed not to be listening to her words of warning. She followed his gaze and saw… he was looking at her clinging shirt! She crossed her arms over her chest, trying to cover herself and save some of her dignity.

Hiei seemed to return to reality when her arms covered her chest and he quickly turned his face away.

"Are you such a baka that you think you can basically take advantage of me and then soak me to the bone then think I'm going to let you **stare **at me? I don't think so, asshole!" she screamed, turning to leave.

Before she could walk away, Hiei was in front of her. She turned away again, but felt his hand holding her in place. She turned back, her hand ready to backhand him, but he caught it and held it at her side. She dared not move her other arm, for it was covering her chest.

Ayamae's POV-

Hiei's hand, the one that wasn't holding my arm in place, moved to my face. He wiped water from my left cheek, his hand was rough, but the movement was soft. I looked up from shock. His hand moved around my head and held it gently. His head slowly moved toward mine and I found I couldn't stop him, yet I was still in control. I knew for sure now why I couldn't stop myself, why I'd lost control of myself. I loved him! I, the queen of ice hearts, loved Hiei!

His lips were surprisingly soft. They moved surely across mine, and I gave no resistance to his advances. He released my arm after a moment. When he went to deepen the kiss, I still did not stop him. His tongue seemed to beg me to allow it entrance. I opened my mouth and my tongue met his instantly. I no longer felt cold. All my concentration was on this moment, the feelings I felt swimming through my mind. Of course, there was that tiny voice in the back of my mind that reminded me of my loss of control the day before.

When I felt his hands move to my lower back, I forced my hands to his chest and pushed. The effort was feeble, at best, but he took the hint.

My breathing was harsh and raged. I slowly forced it to return to normal. I closed my eyes and lowered my head, but still felt his questioning glance on me. "We have to stop," I explained slowly, "We have to keep things at a steady pace."

His fingers moved to beneath my chin, slowly, gently, forcing me to raise my head. "Is that what you want? Something to happen between us in the end?" he asked, looking into my eyes.

I licked my now-chapped lips and nodded my head. A smirk crossed his face and I knew he would make a smart-aleck comment. "Just… shut up, you asshole. Don't get too smug, remember, I'm in heat and can't keep total control at all times of the day. And, so help me, if you try to take advantage of me, I'll kill you the instant I'm in full control of myself."

"Fine," he said, kissing me shortly and walking away.

As soon as he was out of sight, I collapsed, right into the puddle of water. After a minute, I forced myself up, rinsed the ring and my flag off and ran back to Genkai's Temple to change into dry clothes.


	11. A New Player

Disclaimer: We do not own Yu Yu Hakusho, which explains why this is a fan-fiction ;)

Onward!

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Chapter 11: A New Player

-Faith's POV-

I stood at the front door of Genkai's temple with Kurama. The whole walk to the temple was a blur, so much, that I didn't even remember walking. My hand hesitated just before it reached the door handle. Seconds passed and it remained in that position with me staring at it. Kurama's hand entered my line of vision and took mine. I looked up at him and he smiled. His other hand reached the door handle and did what mine could not; it opened the door. We walked in and shut the door. Walking into the living room, we heard nothing but silence and in this temple, that's **never** a good thing. We made our way to the living room and what I saw I will never forget. Hiei and Ayamae were making out on the couch with Kuwabara and Yusuke standing in the doorway, on the opposite side of the room, which led to the kitchen, with their mouths hanging open. Genkai sat sipping a cup of tea in an armchair beside Hiei and Aya's couch.

"Ayamae Kaedae Masuko!" I said loudly, yet not yelling.

Her head emerged from beneath Hiei's at the mention of her full name.

"Oh, hello, Faith."

"Don't 'hello' me. What in the nine circles of hell are you doing!"

Both Hiei and Ayamae sat up and for the first time noticed everybody was in the room looking at them.

"There's a really good explanation for this," Ayamae said.

"Yeah, right."

"No, really, there is. It's just not one that I care to say out loud with everyone listening."

_Well, tell me telepathically. _

_I have a story to tell you later, but anyway, I'm in heat._

"Oh, that makes sense but…" _is he taking advantage of you or are you allowing this._

There was no answer.

"So much for the Queen of Ice Hearts."

"I was thinking the exact same thing earlier." _Why are you holding Kurama's hand?_

I blushed a deep, crimson red and Ayamae laughed.

"And where have you been?" Ayamae asked, seeing how I was dressed and the water dripping from both me and Kurama.

"Nowhere," I answered.

"Everybody's got to be somewhere," Ayamae said wisely.

Well, it wasn't that wise considering it was a line from the movie Small Soldiers.

"I'll tell you later," I said and walked off to my room, dragging Kurama along with me.

I emerged from my bathroom and threw Kurama a towel. I left his side to turn on the floor lamp and when I turned back around his back was to me. For some reason I felt drawn to him and before I knew it I was standing six inches from him. I couldn't stop myself before my hand touched his back. He half turned to look at me and I had to do some quick thinking.

"Do you need anything else?"

"I'm going to go to my room to change. I'll be back in a moment."

"Ok," I said and he left.

I sighed with relief and changed into some long, black, comfortable pants and a red halter top that showed skin from the mid-back and up, in the back.

I brushed out my hair and then plopped down in the middle of my queen-sized bed, laying on my stomach. I grew bored almost immediately and looked around my room. Anyone who walked into my room would immediately notice the red walls with the Japanese symbol for 'Faith' big and black on the right wall. The head of my bed stood against the wall opposite the door with black sheets and white pillows that matched the white carpet, with two nightstands, one adorning each side of my bed and one window, with a window seat, on each side of that. Bookshelves lined the wall to the left, except where the bathroom door stood. The right wall, on the left side of the 'Faith' symbol, was the door to my walk-in closet and on the right side of the symbol sat two big, black chairs with the floor lamp between them and a low, round table in front of them.

Kurama walked in wearing a white martial arts outfit. I guess he didn't find it appropriate to be in my room with his pajamas on.

I stared at him, unable to stop. He sniffed the air and immediately the realization hit me.

"That's not Ayamae, it's…"

I buried my head in my arms, "It's me."

I felt him sit on the bed and I quickly got off of it. His look was that of sympathy and I didn't care for it. I turned away from him, trying to decide what to do about the situation.

_Just what the team needs, two females in heat. To make it worse, it happens on the day Kurama and I start going out._

"It is bad enough Aya's in heat, now I am."

I felt Kurama's arms wrap around me and his chin rest on my shoulder. I didn't move and I didn't breathe. I stood there, tense.

"Relax, we'll get through this. You'll get though this."

He turned me around in his arms and I started to breathe again, but remained tense. I opened my eyes and looked into his. Almost immediately I relaxed and I realized I had almost lost all control. I fought as hard as I could and while I was doing that my body decided to make a move. I was kissing him deeply and passionately. I wasn't complaining or anything. It was quite enjoyable, for the lack of a better description. The only problem was that I thought my body would go further… it did. My hands went to his chest and started to unbutton his shirt. Kurama's hands grabbed mine gently, stopping my movements. He slowly pulled back and I slowly regained control. I looked down at our hands, which now were between us, level with our waists.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly.

He drew me into a hug, my arms crossed over my chest and my head lay on his chest. His right hand stroked my hair softly I glanced at my clock; it read 11:45pm.

I sighed, "I'll see you tomorrow. I'm going to go to bed."

I gave him a quick kiss and he left.

I went over to the left side of my bed and pulled a wooden box out from under it. I crawled up onto my bed with the box and opened it. I pulled some calming herbs out of it and went to the kitchen.

"Hey, Faith," Yusuke's voice came from behind me.

I half-turned to see him with an evil grin on his face. I turned back toward the stove and took the kettle off the burner, pouring some of the boiling water into two cups and setting it back down on the burner. I added my homemade teabags filled with the calming herbs. I heard Yusuke walk up behind me and I wondered what he was up to.

I decided to bring up a random subject, "So, Yusuke, I heard from Kuwabara you have a girlfriend. Keiko, I think her name is."

"She was."

"Was? You guys broke up?" I asked, turning around, suddenly curious.

"Yeah."

He was now only a foot away, looking down at me with the same evil grin on his face.

He continued, "I overheard part of the conversation you and Kurama were having. The part where you said you were in heat, just like Ayamae."

It suddenly hit me. Yusuke, of all people, was trying to take advantage of me. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me to him. I felt myself slowly slipping away and my animal instincts rising to the surface.

The last thing I managed to whisper was Kurama's name.

-In Kurama's room; Kurama's POV-

I sat down on one of the chairs that adorned my room, picking up a book that I started reading. About five minutes into it I realized I wouldn't be able to continue. All my thoughts revolved around Faith. We had known each other for such a short amount of time and we were already dating. To add to that she was in heat, which was going to make our relationship harder until it passed. I sat there, pondering ways to work around this when I got this weird feeling that something was wrong. It felt as though Faith needed me. I stood up and followed her scent to the kitchen.

-In the kitchen with Faith; Faith's POV-

He leaned down and kissed me deeply. I was unable to stop him. It was then that I sensed it. This wasn't Yusuke, but another of Hiroyuki's demons, except this time he was much smarter and in no way, shape or form a low class demon.

_Damn it all! If I wasn't in heat I could kick this son-of-a-bitch's ass!_

All of a sudden he was pulled off of me by Kurama. I regained control.

"Shape-shifter!" I hissed.

Kurama stood at my side now and I was glad he knew it wasn't Yusuke.

"Correct. You're smarter than I thought. I'll keep that in mind next time."

"What makes you so sure there will be a next time?" Kurama asked.

The shape-shifter ignored Kurama but answered his question, directing the answer toward me.

"You wouldn't kill your brother. Would you?"

"You're not… my…" I started to yell, but my voice slowly grew softer as he shape-shifted into my dead brother.

My face filled with pain and hurt and agony. "No," I whispered, "You're not. You can't be."

I tightly shut my eyes and then opened them to make sure I wasn't seeing anything. I wasn't, but he vanished. He had teleported, but it was not done by him.

I slowly turned to the two cups of tea. With slightly shaking hands I picked up one and drank it. At first sip by sip and then I gulped the whole thing down. I threw my leftover teabag away and set the cup by the sink to be washed with the breakfast dishes tomorrow. Kurama watched me the whole time. We stood there looking at each other for a long time until I broke the eye contact and sat down at the dining room table. He pulled up a chair beside me.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly.

"I'm not so sure anymore. Life used to be so simple. I'd skip school and then get into fights with all the other students who skipped." I laughed. "Aya's been trying to get me to stop fighting. In a way, I'm kind of like Yusuke."

"Becoming a Spirit Detective is no easy change, especially when you're a demon. Give it time."

"Whatever you say."

He laughed and put an arm around me, "Is that so?"

"Maybe a little."

We sat in silence for a moment.

"Kurama, we'll tell the others about the demon tomorrow. Right now, I have to bring Aya her tea."

I stood up and picked the other cup of tea up in my hands. It had cooled considerably, but I knew Aya would heat it up to her liking.

We walked down the hallway, past other rooms until we reached Aya's door. He kissed me goodnight and I watched him walk down the hall and disappear into his room. I knocked on Aya's door, seconds later hearing her tell me to come in. I opened her door and saw her lying on her bed playing with Kuma. I smiled at the cat and then looked toward Ayamae.

"I brought you some tea that might help with our common problem."

"Common? It's common now?"

I nodded and handed her the tea. "You can heat it up to your liking. I better get off to bed."

With that, I left.

-The next morning with all of us in the living room-

"Yusuke, sorry if this is prying, but did you and Keiko break up?" I asked a little uncomfortable about the question.

"Yes, but how did you know? I haven't told anyone."

"Let's just say a little demon told me."

Both Kurama and I proceeded to explain what happened last night while Aya and I finished off a cup of the calming tea we'd had the night before.

"He turned into me!" Yusuke yelled aloud to himself, "And did THAT!"

"I agree with the part where he turned into you. One Yusuke is bad enough. As for the last part, pray Foxy doesn't take it the wrong way," Aya commented.

"Shut up!"

"I'd like to see you make me," Aya said and Hiei smirked.

"Children!" I yelled which got everyone's attention. "Chill out."

"Faith, grr-down."

"Let's focus on the problem at hand, shall we?"

"Foxy is right. We have a new adversary and know little about him. Plus, we don't know anything about this Sayuri person," Aya explained.

"So, what's the plan? Do we just sit around and wait for any of them to attack us or do we go to Hiroyuki?" Yusuke asked. "Do we even know where Hiroyuki is?"

Aya and I looked at each other.

"I might," I volunteered.

"I say we go to him," Hiei inputted for the first time that day.

_We kind of figured that, _Aya telepathically told Hiei.

Hiei glared at her.

"It's settled then. We'll have a little visit with him tomorrow afternoon," Yusuke decided.

"If we have the time away from mission from everyone's dearest Lord Koenma," Aya commented, rising out of her seat.

Faith followed suit, the two friends entering Faith's room to share their recent encounters.

"So, do you want to tell me this explanation that you couldn't share with the others in company?" Faith asked.

"Fine," Ayamae sighed. "It was two days ago, the day I found out I was in heat. I'd felt like being mean and showing Hiei that I'd win in a battle of wits, even if we tie in a battle of strength, and I'd gone out to the living room to take over the window seat. I told him to move, he resisted, you know how guys work, and I was going to make him. Well, my plan to scare him enough by seduction to make him move backfired, my body took control. I actually untucked his shirt and was unbuckling his belt when Kuma came in and wake me up, if you can call it waking up. But, that's the first part of it."

"First part? Do tell!"

"Fine... The day you found us making out on the couch, I'd waken up and realized that I'd missed guard practice and hadn't touched my flag since last week and went outside to practice on the battle field. I warmed up, a demon came, I shoved the flag through his head, I started looking for the hose..."

"Wait! Through his head! How much resistance did his skull give? How much blood was there? Was the death instant or drawn out? You gotta give me more detail than that you shoved a guard flag through his head!" Faith cried, excitement projecting her voice.

"Some resistance, I have the largest weight because I'm too strong for my own good, but not much. The blood, there was a lot! I shoved a fucking hole through his nose to the back of his head and out again for crying out loud! But, it stunk horribly! It was unbearable! And, yes, the death was instant. But, anyway, I started looking for the hose, Hiei complemented me, wouldn't tell me exactly where the hose was, at first wouldn't get it, but he finally did."

"That's not a good sign."

"Yeah, I know. He came back with it and sprayed me down from head to foot! Then, it CAN get worse! He stood there staring at my chest! I yelled at him and tried to smack him, but he stopped my hand and my other arm was covering my chest, so you see my dilemma!" Ayamae exclaimed. "But, then he wiped water from my cheek. His hands were rough, those that have used a sword many times over time. But, despite the roughness of his skin, his touch was soft... so soft..."

"Aww! Is Ayamae, the Queen of Ice Hearts, falling for a guy?"

"I think I love him Faith... I really do..." Ayamae began, but quickly continued her story upon seeing Faith's look of dreaminess, "but, anyway, he stepped closer to me, moved his hand behind my head... I knew what he was thinking... and I didn't want to stop him... He kissed me; his lips were really soft for a fighter... almost to the point of being creepy... but... I could tell he wanted to move it to the next step. I'll admit, I did too. The way he kissed me, like an old pro. I feel almost insignificant when I'm with him! He's experienced, I know it! And... I'm not... But, I need to finish my story. I made him stop after a time, for I know he was going to advance another step, and I didn't feel ready for that. Stupid me, I said that we needed to take things at a steady pace. Of course, he knew that I meant that I wanted our, I guess you can call it, relationship to go further some day. I had to admit it, he got smug. I told him to shut up and that if he ever took advantage of me I'd kill him. He said fine, kissed me and left."

"That's cute, Pyra! You've found your knight in shining armor!"

"Well, his isn't so shining... more blood stained, but I love that about him..."

"Only you, Pyra, only you."

"Yeah? Well, what about your all-day-play-date with Kurama? Any marks I need to know about?" Ayamae joked playfully, her mood enhanced greatly.

I playfully glared at her, "No. Mine is fairly similar to yours. Water was involved, among other things."

There was silence. Faith had a look of thoughtful bliss on her face. Aya watched her for a bit, amused. Finally she waved her had in front of her face, bringing her out of her reverie.

"So, are you going to tell me or leave me hanging?" Ayamae asked impatiently.

"I'll leave you hanging."

"Fine. I'll have to find out the hard way."

Faith's playful smile turned into a frown when she realized what her sister was planning to do.

"Don't even think about asking Kurama. He won't tell you."

"I have my ways."

"Ok! Fine! I'll tell." Faith took a deep breath and plunged into her story telling. "I was in the lake doing a bit of training when Kurama comes up and sits on a rock at the water's edge. He asked me if I cared to join him or if he had to go in there and get me. Of course, being me, I picked the latter and he said he was joking when he said that."

"Yep, just like you."

I glared at her for interrupting and then continued, "Well, I formed my new darkness technique, which I'll have to show you some time. It forms ball of darkness around the person who I cast it on, so to them it appears pitch black. The ball will remain around them at all times until I make it dissipate or until the person I cast it on finds a way to break through it. Anyway, Kurama, who still sat on the edge of the rock, made to stand up, but instead fell in the lake. We stood there for a minute or two, just staring into each other's eyes. He moved a piece of hair out of my face, but his hand remained on my cheek. It was then that he slowly leaned forward and lightly kissed me. We had only drew back a centimeter when he put his arm around my waist, pulled me to him, and kissed me with so much passion that my whole body seemed to tingle."

"Now, yours is more of a knight in shining armor."

"I don't think I like that cliché very much. I don't need anyone to save me, which is what that phrase is usually implied to mean. I just need someone who will love all of me, not just the surface and I really think Kurama is that someone."

Faith stood up, not waiting for Ayamae to comment, "I'm going for a walk. You want to join?"

"That's okay. I'm going to see what Hiei's up to."

I laughed and then we both went our separate ways.

On my way out the door I ran into Kurama, literally.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"For a walk. Care to join?"

"I'd love to."

"Great. I was hoping I'd find somebody who would."

"Did you ask Ayamae?"

"Yeah, she's busy."

"With what?"

"Hiei."

Kurama laughed, "I never thought Hiei would find someone, let alone someone like himself."

"Same goes for Aya."

As we walked off I whispered to myself, "Same goes for me."

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That's all for now people.

Don't forget to review!


	12. Complications

Disclaimer: We do not own Yu Yu Hakusho, when we do… well… you won't see any more of these, will ya!

Note: Sorry it took so long to post this one… you know… complications. Writer's block, boyfriend, trying to hook the other up, grounding, lack of ability to get together, school work… yeah, they're all excuses, but combined they work out rather difficultly! Again, sorry it took so long! There's extra work put into this… hope you like it!

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Chapter 12: Complications

-No one's POV-

"Cliffs! Why does Koenma do this to me! Why don't you just throw me out in the middle of the ocean! I'd be better off there!" Ayamae yelled, crouching down and staying near the ground.

"Don't worry, Aya. We'll let you stay away from the edges and the tight spaces," Faith reassured her, her hand placed caringly on her friend's shoulder.

"What's wrong with you?" Yusuke asked.

"She's highly acrophobic, as well as claustrophobic," Faith explained, saving Ayamae a drawn out explanation.

"What's that mean?" Kuwabara asked stupidly.

"It means she has a ridiculously large fear of heights and small places, such as coffins," Hiei put in.

Ayamae turned sharply to Hiei and gave him a glare. No one would get to insult her! Least of all the man that was dishonest enough to take advantage of a female in heat… even if she did love him. "Shut it, Hiei, or it won't be pretty."

"Like the hose was? We can always have a repeat of that incident," Hiei grinned evilly.

Ayamae growled deeply in her throat. "Only if it includes the after effects, too," she said deeply.

Hiei's eyes widened for a millisecond, but no one other than Aya and Faith noticed. _Be careful, Aya! Stay in control_, Faith warned.

_I'm in control. I just need for him to remember the state I'm in and what I can do_, Aya told her. Ayamae turned back to Hiei and smirked slightly, then ran her tongue slowly across her lips. "Bring it on, Big-boy." (FYI, we have Hiei as about 5'6", not the 4'10" like in the show.)

Hiei raised an eyebrow. "Is that a dare?"

"You can take it that way if that's what you need to get some … release," Aya answered, her voice deep, enjoying the knowledge of the hostility growing within him, as well as other feelings.

"Aya, it's not nice to play with men's emotions. They have about as much resistance normally as we do now," Faith scolded.

"Aww, but Faith, I enjoy picking on him and denying him what he needs. Far too much not to do so," Ayamae joked.

"Hey, it's getting late. We should set up camp and rest for the night. We'll set up a watch so we don't get ambushed," Kurama said, setting down the pack that he'd been carrying.

"Thank God! I didn't think I could take another step,' Kuwabara whined, sitting down on the ground.

Ayamae turned sharply, drawing her katana and placing it at his throat. "Stop whining or I'll kill you," she snarled.

"Woah! What pissed her off so suddenly?"

"You can call it PMS."

"I thought demons didn't have PMS."

"We might not, but we've got the more dangerous version," Aya warned, turning her katana in the fading light. "Now get up and help set up camp." She sheathed her sword as she crouched down, opening the too-full bag that was on her back. As she did, Kuma jumped out.

"Kuma! What were you doing in there!"

"Isn't it obvious? He was hitch-hiking," Hiei stated with a smirk.

All of a sudden, Kuma began to look nervously from side-to-side. Ayamae looked at him, confused by his behavior. Kuma growled deeply, a growl far too low to be from a kitten. Suddenly, he transformed into a white tiger cub.

Ayamae simply stared, her expression of shock only emphasized by her rapid blinking.

"Well that's new," Faith commented. "Cool beans!"

"Cool beans? Well, that seems to be a new one," Kurama noted.

"Actually, that's been around for decades! You simply didn't interact with many children when you were in school," Faith corrected.

"Kuma?" Ayamae ventured, taking a tentative step towards her pet… or what seemed to be him. Kuma turned his head, let out a small meow, and turned back to his protective stance.

Ayamae couldn't help but cock her head from confusion. She watched the cub stalk toward a nearby bush and crouch silently, his tail flicking from side to side anxiously.

Aya smirked, a small laugh escaping her closed lips. She applauded within her mind, knowing her first instinct about her pet was correct.

Suddenly, Kuma's tail ceased its movement and he pounced into the bush. It rustled for a moment, a struggle obvious. The rustling stopped, no noise was made.

Kuma trotted out of the bush then, a mouse clasped tightly in his mouth. Ayamae saw the quick movements of the mouse's chest, proving it still drew breath. She smirked again, proud of the kitten.

Kuma lay on the ground and released the mouse, but hindered its escape by placing his left paw on its tail firmly. The mouse continued to struggle against its captor by running, but made no progress. Kuma grew bored of watching it run and placed his right paw on its head.

It struggled, tried running forward and backward, getting faster to the point of near exhaustion.

Ayamae's POV

"Did he just grin? Did that monster just grin at its own cruelty?" Kuwabara shrieked behind me.

"Yes, he did. And if you call my little Kuma a monster again," I warned, unsheathing my katana slowly, placing it near the base of his legs, "you'll live for a short time, but time enough to regret it."

"Huh?"

"I'll castrate your fucking ass if you don't shut your face!" I turned back to the carnage my pet was creating, but only saw small tufts of mouse fur and a small amount of blood on Kuma's claws.

"Damn it! Now look what you've done, Kuwabara! You've made me miss my baby's first kill!" I snapped.

"I'm glad Eikichi's never been near that creature," Kuwabara muttered.

"Only because Eikichi's a wimp that can't feed herself!" I snapped.

"Hey! Don't make fun of Eikichi!"

"Watch me! I mean, she depends on you! You, of all people, to defend her. What does that say about her strength, let alone her intelligence?"

"Don't you mean that you'll castrate his dick, not his ass? That would make more logical sense," Hiei commented.

"Logical to the normal, uneducated mind. Like yours!" I commented cruelly. "You see, I would be forced to castrate his ass, because he's got no dick in the first place! You, on the other hand, will be getting your dick castrated in a few weeks!"

"What's in a few weeks?" Yusuke asked.

No One's POV

"My heat ends and I go into the… well, ultimate version of PMS. Meaning, don't piss me off in the slightest. You won't live to regret it," Aya explained, heading over to a large, sturdy place among the cliffs.

She crouched and touched the ground tentatively.

"What are you doing?" Hiei scoffed.

"Testing the ground. I don't want to go crashing downward when I'm sleeping! Faith and I will share a tent here. You boys can find your own spots and figure out your sleeping arrangement."

"Would you check the ground for me too?" Kuwabara asked quickly.

"No. Check it yourself."

"Oh, come on! I don't know how!"

"Figure it out for yourself," Ayamae said, turning back to her pack, pulling out her compact communicator.

"Lord Koenma," she spoke.

"Yes, Ayamae?" came Koenma's voice

"Could you send over those tents I requested, please?"

"… Sure, Ayamae. What's got you in such a good mood?"

"I'm getting to camp! I haven't been in Girl Scouts in the human world all these years for nothing!"

"All right, Ayamae. They'll be right over."

"Thank you!" Ayamae closed the communicator, patiently awaiting the arrival of the previously mentioned tents. She quickly became bored and put her hand out in front of her. She lit a fireball in her hand and flipped her hand, extinguishing the flame.

"Ooh!" Faith cried out, sitting next to her friend.

Ayamae continued to light and extinguish the flame, accompanied by Faith's commentary of "Light! No light!"

Ayamae gave a sideways look toward Faith and paused her hand as she was about to light another fireball.

"Li…" Faith began, but caught her self and changed her comment. "Light?" Aya snickered slightly, continuing her motion.

A flash of light and a portal appeared next to Ayamae and Faith's location. Out came three pop-up tents complete with poles and stakes.

Ayamae grabbed the red and black tent and began to lay it out. She made quick work of putting it up, with Faith's assistance, of course. They put the stakes into the ground and moved their things into its interior.

They emerged to see Yusuke and Kuwabara still searching for a location and Kurama and Hiei pulling out their tent.

"We're good, Faith!" Aya cried out, clasping Faith's hand in a high-five.

"That we are!"

Ayamae felt Hiei's glare hot on her neck, though felt no surprise to know he was unhappy at the girls' efficiency. "Hiei, we've been putting up tents by ourselves for two years! Don't feel ashamed to admit defeat and let us take over."

"Thank you, Ayamae, but I'm sure we'll figure it out," Kurama said as Aya took a step toward them.

"Okay, Kurama, if you insist."

"After all, it's just a human creation," Hiei stated smugly, "How hard can it be?"

"Oh, you'd be surprised at how tricky those are the first time you attempt it, especially without the instructions," Ayamae said, entering her tent.

She laid down on the canvas bottom and closed her eyes, content on taking a nap.

"Ayamae!" Kuwabara cried out hopelessly, "Please help us! Urameshi's useless!"

"And you aren't! You're the one that pissed her off in the first place!" Yusuke yelled in return.

"If you two don't shut up I won't help you put up your tent when you do find a spot! I'm in need of a short nap! Just wait!"

"Does that mean you'll help us!"

"After I get a half hour nap, yes."

"Thank you, Aya! Shut up, Urameshi! She's trying to take a nap!" Kuwabara was heard saying, though Yusuke said no word.

Ayamae smiled, her red hair shook slightly with silent mirth as she opened the windows of the tent then settled down and pulled out her book and began to read. She wasn't going to miss the fun that would happen while she 'slept'.

She read a chapter in her book before she looked up, feeling someone's eyes on her. Hiei stood at the mesh door, looking at her.

"I thought you were sleeping?"

"I thought I told you that I wouldn't take your shit, therefore I don't want you looking at me or Faith, since you're low enough to take advantage of a female while she's in heat!" Ayamae snapped back, slightly saddened that she must hide her true feelings.

"You want more, you know it but won't admit it," Hiei responded.

"You just wish I did!"

"That's a lie and you know it. You admitted to wanting more to happen in the future and you know that too."

"As I said then, I can't control my body all of the time. That's part of heat, but you wouldn't know how it works because you've never had to deal with it before! So shut up and leave me alone, asshole!" She screamed, destroying her nap cover.

"Nice job. You ruined your own cover. What will you tell those stupid humans as an excuse this time?"

"That I couldn't sleep with all three of your eyes watching me! If I need any help watching me, I'll talk to Faith, not you!"

"Why would I watch you? You're a stupid ningen-wanna-be."

Ayamae growled deep in her throat at the insult. "Shut your mouth, Forbidden One, or I'll shut it for you."

Hiei opened the tent flap, walked over to her, and leaned close to her face muttering, "Make me."

Ayamae's possibilities of controlling herself disappeared at that moment. Her hands latched onto Hiei's head as she pulled him to her. He fell forward from surprise at her strength and urgency.

Ayamae's body gave off a deep, throaty moan. "So you want it too? I'll be glad to oblige," her body whispered seductively.

_No! No! No! This can't be happening! If I'm gonna make out with him, I should be in control and wanting to, rather than wanting to castrate him bare-handed!_ she raged, unable to call out or fight back.

Her lips caught his forcefully, forcing his lips apart with her tongue. His tongue met hers eagerly as it penetrated his warm, moist mouth.

_No! I don't want to be enjoying this! I love him… but he knows I'm not in control…doesn't he? It doesn't matter! _Ayamae mentally scolded herself. _He probably doesn't love me in return, so my emotions don't matter. _

"You love me!" Hiei gasped, breaking free of her mouth.

"You read my thoughts! You asshole! You mother-fucking, god-forsaken, male chauvinist pig!" Ayamae screamed, punching him roughly in the stomach. "And that's for taken advantage of me!"

Ayamae stormed out of the tent to find Faith watching Kurama trying to put up the tent by himself. Ayamae turned away and went in search of a vent for her anger and frustration.

She walked for nearly ten minutes into the nearby forest and the group was far from sight. She sat down on the ground, her back against a tree. She curled her knees close to her and rested her forehead against them. She began to sob quietly, tears streaming down her face, though she didn't attempt to stop their flow. She glanced at her left arm, pulled out her dagger, and focused heat into the blade. She slowly burnt the words 'I want to DIE!' into her forearm.

_Why must I love the one that cannot love me in return? Why do I always fall for the ones that I know I shouldn't?_

The sound of Kuwabara and Yusuke's voices awoke her from her thoughts.

_What are those to bakas yelling about? _she telepathically asked Faith.

_They want you to help them put up their tent, _she sighed.

_Why don't you help them?_

… _I'm a little busy?_

_With what!_

_I'm watching Kurama fruitlessly try to put up his tent up alone._

_Why don't you help you lover boy!_

_Why don't you have yours help mine!_

_I have none. I never have and never will, _Ayamae replied in a defeated voice.

Faith sighed, _What happened?_

_Let's just say that he knows what can help him…as well as hurt me…_

_Which would be…?_

… _You must be joking…_

Faith thought for a moment, _Nope!_

Ayamae sighed, _If he takes advantage of my moment of weakness he may get…you know…_

_Ooh! I get it now! _Faith mentally applauded herself.

_Would you stop the clapping! It's giving me a headache! _Hiei interrupted.

_You were listening! Do you ever stop involving yourself in my life! Butt your head out… BOTH of them! _Aya yelled at him.

_It's not my fault you can't control yourself! _He yelled back.

_I wouldn't have to control myself if you would stay away from me!_

_HEY! Peoples! Shut the hell up! Now I'm the one getting a headache! Hiei, you need to learn to keep your head out of ours and Aya… get your ass back here!_

_Hn. Baka onna, _Hiei muttered.

_Aya! DON'T answer that! I'll take care of it, just get over here! Yusuke's pissing me off!_

_Aye-aye, Captain! _Aya replied sarcastically, mentally saluting.

Ayamae turned back toward camp, ignoring the pain in her arm. As she walked she thought she heard rustling amongst the trees, but dismissed it as some woodland creature. Before she knew it she was at camp with Kuwabara and Yusuke in her face.

"Help us! Help us! HELP US!" they pleaded in unison.

"You promised you would!" Kuwabara added.

"Did you practice that, or what?" Aya asked, obviously pissed off.

She didn't wait for them to answer but instead went to find Faith and found her shortly after. She was sitting in front of their tent staring at Kurama, or more specifically, his ass.

"So Faith," she stated loudly enough for Kurama to hear, "how's the view?"

This comment caused Kurama stand up straight, since he was bent over, and turn around. "What view?" he asked looking around for some amazing scenery that he might have missed. Finding none he looked back towards Faith who was now blushing deeply. He cocked his head to one side, completely confused.

"She was looking at your ass," Aya stated bluntly.

Faith roughly hit her sister on the leg. "Aya!" she whispered harshly.

"It's true!"

"Of course it's true, but you didn't have to tell him that!"

"Next time, if you're going to admire a guy's ass at least tell him what you're thinking about it."

Faith thought this over for a moment, "Ok… hey Kurama!" she yelled causing him to turn back towards them, "Nice ass! … Was that what you meant, Aya?"

"Not bad… for a beginner."

Faith glared at her.

"What!"

"I think I did really well and you call me a beginner! Yes, it was my first time saying that… wait… no it's not…"

This shocked Ayamae, "What?"

By this time Kurama was standing next to Faith.

"Well… there was this one time I was walking home and told this guy who was working on his car that. And then there was that time in 8th grade… Oh! And that one guy at Bob Evans… he was hot. Also there was-"

"Ok! We get the idea!"

"We? What we?"

"Kurama's standing right beside you."

Faith slowly turned her head towards him. He was indeed standing next to her. She grinned innocently, "Hi, honey!"

Kurama raised an eyebrow at this. "So, you're saying I'm AT LEAST the fifth guy you told this to?"

Faith hesitantly nodded before adding, "Seventh, but you're not a random guy. I'm actually dating you."

"… She has a point. So, you're the lucky number seven… wait… the guy at Bob Evans! He was hot… I meant to go back and see him that night, but… didn't get to it… well, I have to help Yusuke and Kuwabaka. I'll leave you two alone," she smirked and left.

"So… how about I help you with that tent?" Faith smiled.

"I'd be much obliged," Kurama sighed.

She told him where to nail the stake in and he bent over to do so. She bent slightly backward so she was looking at his ass again.

"Mmm… so fine," she muttered.

Kurama turned his head sharply to her and she quickly went back to work, but not before leaving him with her signature, innocent smile.

* * *

Night fell quickly and Faith and Ayamae sat at the fire Hiei created earlier. They were roasting marshmallows over the fire… well, Ayamae was, Faith was just eating them out of the bag.

"So," Ayamae started, "how did you get back at Hiei?"

"I tempted him with sweet snow. See, there was a sweet snow place right next to the pet shop that you got Kuma from and I saw him eyeing it. Well, after about five minutes of that torture he started chasing me around with his katana until Kurama told him to stop."

Aya laughed at this, but it was quickly diverted to a yawn. She raised her arms up in the air, stretching. Faith noticed the burns on her arm, but decided she better save the topic for later as she saw the guys heading off to bed.

* * *

Don't forget to review! Chapter 13 has been started!


	13. Fight Fire with,,, Fire?

Chapter 13: Fight Fire with… Fire?

"I'll take first watch," Faith told the gang.

Yusuke, Kuwabara and Ayamae were too tired to argue so they just mumbled in agreement and went to their tents. Hiei, being the non-verbal type, just walked off, leaving her there with Kurama.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yeah. I prefer the night. It's much more peaceful. I have some thinking to do anyway."

"Well, if you're sure…" he trailed off.

-Faith's POV-

I nodded. He smiled and kissed me briefly before heading off to the tent he shared with Hiei.

I sat down on a log a little ways off from the camp looking up at the night sky, a cool breeze swiftly blowing my hair to one side. I sighed, content with my current environment. Kurama would come to relieve me of the watch in a few hours and Yusuke would take over after that. I almost wished that I could sit here all night, but I knew if I stayed up all night I would be completely useless to everybody the next day. I sat thinking for a few moments when I heard a rustling in the tree beside me. I sharply turned my head towards the sound and saw Hiei.

"What are you doing here, Hiei?" I asked sharply.

"I couldn't sleep in that ningen contraption," he retorted.

I sighed, "And you had to pick this exact tree to sleep in?"

He looked down at me, his gaze hard and unwavering like he expected me to be scared. "Yes."

"Well, go find somewhere else, preferably away from me… AND Aya," I added protectively.

He didn't move an inch but instead glared at me.

"Don't make me have to annoy you. I'm not in the mood."

He continued to glare.

"… Sweet snow."

Through the dark I saw him lick his lips slightly and then he disappeared in a blur of speed.

_Thank you! _I told him telepathically and even though he didn't answer telepathically or verbally I could swear, somewhere off in the woods, he uttered the word 'hn'.

I shook my head, _Bad! BAD! Now you can sense when he says that word! … Wait… is 'hn' even a word! Note to self: Stay away from Hiei for as long as possible. Reason: He's annoying, Aya hates him… sort of, he's contagious, he's… He's Hiei!_

I mentally calmed myself down and then decided to check up on everyone. First, I reached out for Aya's spirit energy. Finding she was in our tent asleep, I moved on to Kurama's. This continued until I reached Hiei's. He was now in a tree by his own tent and had up a mental block.

_Probably thinking about Aya, _I thought. _Or snooping around in Aya's head._

_Hey! Hiei! _I yelled at him, _You better not be snooping around in Aya's head!_

When I got no answer and was content that he would not be mister 'I-am-so-cool-because-I-can-snoop-around-in-a-girl-demon's-head-and-make-her-furious-with-me-to-the-point-I-get-my-sorry-ass-kicked' I turned to my own thoughts, putting a mental block up just in case the 'short one' decided to turn on me.

Before I knew it two hours had passed and now Kurama stood at my side, ready to take over.

"Go ahead and sit down," I told him. "I'm going to stay out here for a bit more."

He did as I asked and sat down next to me.

"Kurama, have you thought about the shape-shifter at all?" I asked, already knowing he had.

"Yes, I have. Why do you ask?"

"I'm not sure but I have this really strong feeling he was the one that killed Kieran."

"Your brother?"

"Yeah. It's just a feeling, but it's a really strong one. I've felt it ever since that night when he posed as Yusuke and it's been getting stronger, but there was also something in his eyes. Like he wanted me to know it was him, just to toy with me and weaken me and see me… helpless."

"Well, I trust you and if you feel that strongly about it then I have no room to say otherwise. As for the demon, we will find him and when we do you can do what you see fit to him," he told me with a smirk.

I laughed, "Thanks."

He smiled, "Anytime."

We sat there for a few moments in silence until he noticed I was nodding off onto his shoulder. He lightly sat me up and looked me in the eye.

"Go to bed," he ordered.

I laughed, "Make me."

He shrugged, "If you insist."

He stood up, picking me up as he went. I stared at him in shock. He just laughed and carried me off to my tent, setting me down in front of it when we got there.

"Thanks for the ride."

"No problem. Good night," he said and kissed me briefly.

"'Night," I replied and entered the tent, trying my hardest not to wake up Aya.

I lay down and tried to go to sleep when my thoughts took over again. My head had been doing this the past couple nights, in which case it took me hours to get to sleep. Tonight I managed to throw all my thoughts to the back of my mind and immediately fell asleep, completely exhausted.

-No One's POV-

Ayamae woke up to her arm lightly throbbing and sat up, staring at the burns. It took a minute or two before she finally snapped out of it. Sighing, she got up and left the tent, leaving Faith to sleep. She noticed Hiei asleep in a tree next to the tent he and Kurama were supposed to share and made a mental note to stay away from it.

She took in the crisp night air and sighed in contentment before deciding to take a walk. She had only walked a minute or two from camp when she decided to sit down and think. Minutes passed in which she could faintly hear Yusuke's snoring. _Damn him! Doesn't he know he's not supposed to sleep on his shift! Baka…_Her thoughts were interrupted by a rustling to her left. She looked up and watched as a girl, near her own age, emerged from the woods, her dark blue hair with silver streaks swaying as she walked.

"Who are you?" Ayamae asked as her left hand found her dagger and her right hand slowly moved toward the hilt of her katana. "What do you want?"

The girl smirked, her small fangs showing slightly, and her solid silver eyes glittering. "Are you the one they call Ayamae Masuko?"

"Depends on who's asking," Ayamae replied.

"Answer my question, then I may tell you."

_So she has something to hide, _Ayamae thought _… the real question is, is she affiliated with this Sayuri person?_ Ayamae switched her thoughts to the location of her team. _Faith, _she called.

There was no answer.

_FAITH! _she yelled into her best friend's head.

_What the… Aya? _Faith's sleepy sounding voice came into her head.

_You might want to get the idiots together. I may need some back-up. Oh, and don't forget Kurama. We'll need his intelligence._

_Like I could forget Kurama, _Faith mumbled. _So, what's the threat?_

_A demon, fairly strong by her aura, is asking questions. I think she's with Sayuri._

_We'll be there ASAP._

-With Faith at the campsite-

Faith walked out of her tent heading for Kurama's.

"Kurama," she whispered once she reached her destination.

She waited a while and when no sound or movement was heard she went in.

Kurama lay there on the right side of the tent with his blanket drawn up to his waist, leaving his bare chest exposed. She blushed slightly as she knelt beside him.

"Kurama," she whispered.

She still received no answer. She reached up to lightly touch his shoulder, but for some unknown reason her hand diverted its course to his face. Her index finger and her middle finger lightly picked up a stray piece of hair that lay across his face, the back of her hand gently brushing his cheek as she put it behind his ear.

"Kurama," she whispered, yet again, gently cupping his cheek in her hand.

He shot up and somewhere in those next couple seconds he ended up on top of her, only inches of air separated their bodies and a deep blush was planted on Faith's face. Her breathing was heavy and once she calmed it down she could feel her rapid heartbeat pounding throughout her body. She silently prayed that her body wouldn't take over and amazingly it abided by her wishes.

"Faith," he whispered with a slight question in his voice. "What are you doing here?"

"… Um… uh... oh, yeah!"

She started to sit up slowly and Kurama moved with her, eventually sitting on the ground in front of her.

"Aya came face-to-face with a demon who is asking questions. She needs us to get there as soon as possible," she replied to his earlier question, as she started to exit the tent.

Kurama followed, putting on his shirt as he went.

"You get Hiei. He's in the tree, there," she said while pointing, "and I'll get Kuwabara and the idiot sleeping while on guard that is Yusuke."

He nodded in silent agreement and they parted only to be reunited, with their respective persons, a few short minutes later where what remained of the campfire lay.

Faith had sensed Ayamae's location when she had got the message and she led the rest of the team to that very spot.

-With Ayamae by the forest; No One's POV-

She and the girl stared at each other for a time until the sound of Kuwabara and Yusuke's voices reached Aya's ears.

"So you called for help? Do I scare you, you petty, low-classed creature?"

"Don't you dare call me low-classed! I'm anything but! I simply don't trust those controlled by weakling demons such as Sayuri," Aya growled in response.

"I get hired, and am controlled by none, and I have no workers. I work alone."

"Then why take on those whose abilities you don't know?" Ayamae said, moving her right hand behind her back, trying to conger a fireball, but finding it impossible.

_Faith, we have a problem,_ she told her friend.

_Uh… how big of a problem?_

_Well… I can't create fireballs. I haven't tried anything else._

… _Would it have anything to do with what you did to your arm?_

… _You know about that? … We don't have time for this! I can't do anything that she won't notice! And shut those baka humans up! She knows you're coming!_

_Okay, I'll send Hiei._

_NO! Not him! Anyone but him, even the baka ningen is better than him!_

_Aya! I'm sending him! I don't want you to die just because of your argument with Hiei!_

… _Just hurry up yourself… I don't want to be alone with him for long. I'll keep her busy._ She switched her mind to Hiei's. _Get your ass out here before I have to rip her apart myself! Take her from behind._

Hiei didn't respond and she noticed a blur moving through the trees behind the demon. He was about to strike with his katana when the demon grinned.

"Water Barrier," she announced.

A sphere of water was created around her and Hiei, at the last second, backed off and stood at Aya's side. The demon lowered her Water Barrier, still grinning.

"Now that I know who you are, Ayamae, I suppose I'll tell you my name, the name of your assassin."

When Ayamae didn't reply, the demon continued, "I'm the one who you thought I worked for."

"Sayuri," Ayamae muttered.

"Correct."

Just then the rest of the gang entered the clearing, Faith leading the way.

"It's about time," Ayamae told them, mainly Faith.

Kurama called out his Rose Whip while Kuwabara called out his Spirit Sword. Faith drew her katana and Yusuke just charged Sayuri, which resulted in him being flung through the trees after bouncing off of her barrier.

Kurama circled her and soon found out that his Rose Whip could penetrate the barrier, though Sayuri ended up effectively dodging the attack.

Faith and Hiei used this opening to attack her, but had to back off due to her Water Barrier being back up.

"Aya! We could use some FIRE power!"

"I've been trying!" she yelled back, trying once again to conjure her fire and ending up with nothing. "I can't!"

"Oh, hell!" Faith cried out in frustration, sheathing her katana.

A white mist enveloped Faith and seconds later dissipated. Faith's hair was now silver with red streaks, but had maintained its length. Silver fox ears tipped black protruded from her head and twitched furiously as did her new tail which was also silver and tipped black. She wore black, baggy, cargo pants and a black shirt. On the front it read, in red letters, 'Do not start with me. You will not win.' On the back was a picture of a single white rose that had blood on its petals and that streamed down its stem, forming a puddle under it.

The gang's shock, not including Ayamae who had seen her in this form before, was clearly visible to anyone. Kurama quickly recovered, knowing that he had a job to do and it wasn't about to wait for him to ask questions. Hiei had the same thought pattern, but Yusuke and Kuwabara unfortunately did not and ended up being hit with Sayuri's newly formed Blade of Water. It looked as though they were out of the fight.

Faith summoned her Rose Whip seeing how Kurama's attack had previously penetrated Sayuri's Water Barrier.

The battle continued with just Faith, Kurama, and Hiei fighting their opponent and Ayamae trying with all her might to summon her fire attack. The battle made its way to a cliff where Ayamae was not of much use, even if she had her fire powers.

Kurama and Faith attacked Sayuri as one, perfectly in sync, while Hiei managed to smuggle in a few cuts and one or two major gashes. It looked as if the battle was about to end in Team Urameshi's favor until Yusuke came stumbling out of the forest, Kuwabara lagging along behind him. Yusuke raised his arm and before anyone could tell him otherwise shot his Spirit Gun. The attack hit straight on sending the demon Sayuri over the edge of the cliff.


	14. Heart to Heart

Chapter 14: Heart-to-Heart

"Nice going, Yusuke! Shoot her off a cliff why don't ya! Oh, wait… YOU DID! WE KIND OF NEEDED HER!" Faith yelled, grabbing him by the shirt and hoisting him off the ground.

His hand reached up and scratched the back of his head, him grinning as he did, "Oops…"

Faith growled, anger swelling up inside her. "MEN!" she screamed to the world and flung him at Kuwabara, taking both him and Yusuke into the forest and more specifically, a tree.

Faith stood there, nearly hyper-ventilating. Kurama came up behind her, laying a hand on her shoulder.

"Calm down. We'll go search for her in the morning. We all need to get some rest."

Faith managed to get a hold of herself and turned to him. "Okay. I'll call Koenma in the morning and ask him to send Puu. That will give us transportation off this cliff. Though, we might have to have someone knock out Aya first," she commented, glancing at her best friend who clung to a tree, muttering obscenities and a few comprehensible words, including tree, cliff, bird, splat, etc. She looked back at him and smirked, "Sorry about the 'men' crack."

He smiled, "It's okay. With those two around it's okay."

Kurama led Faith back to the campsite, Kuwabara and Yusuke stumbling after them muttering something about emotional women. Hiei and Ayamae, however, remained on the cliff.

-With Ayamae and Hiei-

Ayamae stood, staring intently at the ground, or so it seemed.

"So, ningen-wanna-be, how does it feel to actually be powerless?" Hiei asked, adding insult to, literal, injury.

"Just leave me alone, Hiei," she replied, feeling defeated and disheartened. She sunk to her knees and sat, her legs spread at the knees, feet at her sides. "What did I do to deserve this?" she muttered.

Hiei was amazed by this change of personality, for this was a side never-before revealed by Ayamae. He stood in shock for a short time then kneeled down beside her and placed his hand on her shoulder. "You did do this to yourself, from what I take."

"What do you mean?"

"The things you've done to your arm. You used your powers against your own body, therefore you weakened your use and your spirit energy is flowing out of the wound, trying to heal while also continuing the damage you did with it. It will take some time to heal."

"How could I be so stupid? … Why am I even talking to you! You're the reason I did this!" she cried out.

"**_I_** am! How?" he questioned.

She glanced up at him, sorrow in her eyes, "Why did you have to read my mind? Why can't you understand that people will tell you what they want to and that some things should remain private?"

Hiei gave no response to her questioning. He played the memory of them in her tent in his mind once again. He understood now. "Don't hurt yourself."

She looked back up at him, tears forming in the corner of her eyes. One escaped and ran down her cheek leaving a path of wetness. "Too late for that now," she said quietly.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her up into his arms, holding her there tightly. "Just don't do it again," he muttered, tilting her head up and placing a gentle kiss on her lips.

She looked into his eyes and saw something strange there. She lowered her face, a small blush rising, then tilted her head back up and kissed him, slightly more forceful than the one he had given her. She soon deepened the kiss, sliding her tongue between his yielding lips, tasting him on her tongue.

When they parted they looked into each others eyes and a small smirk spread on Ayamae's face.

"Promise not to do anything like that again. Promise me," he insisted.

"So long as you stop nosing into my mind without permission," she responded, the smirk growing slightly.

"Fine."

It was as they headed back toward the rest of the team, side by side, that Aya realized she had been in control the whole time. _That's more like it, _she chided herself.

-Back at the campsite with the rest of the team-

Once they reached the campsite Faith changed back to her human form, carefully being watched by Kurama.

"It's not polite to stare," Faith smirked, as she walked into his embrace, "but in your case I'll make an exception."

"Well, thank you very much." He kissed her lightly.

"I better go patch up Yusuke and Kuwabara before they bleed to death," Faith sighed.

"You would care?" he asked, surprised.

"Yes, because then who would we use as bait on our missions, and then there's the fact our team's name would be 'Team Urameshi' and there would be no Urameshi."

With that she walked off to her tent.

Faith exited her tent with a wooden box and some white gauze bandages in hand. She made her way over to log that Yusuke sat on by the fire and sat down next to him.

"Take off your shirt, Yusuke," she said quietly, and Yusuke complied as Faith opened the box and took out a small container.

Kurama, who sat across from them, looked at the box closely. It was made of Red Oak and was about seven inches long, four inches wide, and four inches deep. Engraved on the lid in black was her name, 'Faith'.

The owner of the box carefully set it on the ground so that Kurama was able to see the front of the box. Engraved there, though in somewhat smaller letters, it read '_To My Dear Sister -Kieran_' and from there was engraved black vines that went around the box on both sides to meet an equally black rose on the back of the box.

"My brother gave it to me on my sixth birthday, six months before he was killed. He made it himself. You can look at it if you wish," Faith said to Kurama in the same quiet voice, as she gently rubbed the salve from the container over the sword wound on Yusuke's shoulder.

As Kurama picked up the box and looked inside he could see a number of containers and tied up herbs held in pouches made of a crimson velvet. Also, engraved in black on the inside of the lid it said '_Healing comes in its own time and its own way._' He looked closely at her face as she bandaged Yusuke's wound, and it remained passive and thoughtful.

"What's wrong with Ayamae?" Yusuke asked her.

She had been expecting this question and had prepared a suitable answer. She looked into his eyes expecting to see some sort of amusement, but found worry and maturity instead. "It's not my place to tell you," she said glancing at Kurama who had put the box down and was paying attention, then to Kuwabara who had just sat down. "But I suppose since it does affect the team you should know." She sighed and continued. "She… hurt herself using her spirit energy and her powers are continuing the damage while also trying to heal the wound. She won't be able to use her spirit energy for quite some time." She paused to let the guys process the information and then continued. "I feel it would be best to bring Sayuri back to Koenma in the morning and revise our strategy accordingly."

"I agree," Kurama voiced as Faith tied Yusuke's bandage.

"Yusuke?" Faith implored.

"I guess we'll just kick Hiroyuki's ass later," he grinned.

Faith offered a small smile in return before bandaging Kuwabara's wounds.

After Faith had finished bandaging Kuwabara, he and Yusuke went off to their tent to sleep away what was left of the night. Faith returned the box to her tent and went out to sit next to Kurama. He lovingly put his arm around her waist and she laid her head on his shoulder.

"It will get better," he said suddenly. She looked up at him and he elaborated, "You will find it easier to live with your brother's death, though I cannot tell you when that will happen."

She clung to him tighter, finding comfort in his warmth. "I hope your right… I miss him so much."

He lightly kissed the top of her head, wrapping his arm around her, and whispered, "I know."

One by one the team woke up the next morning, and Puu arrived through a portal shortly after breakfast, tackling Yusuke excitedly.

"PUU! Would you get off! You're not exactly small anymore!"

Puu backed off him and said what he always did, "Puu!"

It took not even ten minutes for Puu to transport them off the cliff after they had packed up their equipment, and managed to somehow force Aya onto the flying creature and off the cliff.

As they reached the ground, Ayamae wasted no time in hugging the ground and began to scan the area, searching for Sayuri's spirit energy. Trace amounts were soon found south of their location, proving she was unconscious still.

The team found the assassin and surrounded her.

"Be ready to hold her down," Ayamae instructed, kneeling beside the girl's head. "Some don't respond well to someone probing about his or her body spiritually."

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Kuwabara questioned.

"Yeah, English would be nice," Yusuke agreed.

"Basically, I'm going to use my Jagan and search her body spiritually for damage like broken bones or a concussion and she may try to hurt any or all of us. It's not exactly a… pleasant sensation," she explained carefully.

The team leaned down, arms extended toward the mysterious demon's limbs, ready to grab them should something happen.

Ayamae reached out her hand and prepared herself for what was about to happen. She carefully touched Sayuri's head and carefully forced her energy into the other girl's body, ignoring the memories flashing at her to check for injuries.

"She remains uninjured, besides a major concussion which has caused many memories to be lost or shoved God knows where in her head," she informed the others just before she lost touch with reality and was overcome by memories not her own.

Aya: … Finally! It's good to be back! ... Sorry it took so long, guys (and gals).

Faith: I LOVE CHEESE!

Aya: Oh, no. Not this. head falls and sighs

Faith: … Cheese?

Aya: No, Faith. No cheese.

Faith: sniffle No cheese?

Aya: No, no cheese. I'm sorry.

Faith: KURAMA!

Kurama: What?

Faith: Cheese?

Kurama: There is no cheese.

Faith: puppy eyes Cheese, please?

Kurama: … Maybe later.

Faith: CHEESE! … pause … Kiss?

Aya: ok, I'll let you all NOT hear this, since I really don't want to… So, yeah, we're waiting on a friend (We'll call her Sayuri.) to get stuff about her to us, so we don't know how long it will be. Again, sorry it took so long and we'll have more ASAP. R&R please!

Faith (to Kurama): Kiss, please?


	15. Memories and Identities

Chapter 15: Memories and Identities

-Sayuri's Memories: A Broken Family-

Sayuri crept down the stairs; the sound of her father's and a stranger's voice had carried her out of sleep. Sayuri stopped at the bottom of the stairs and listened.

"What kind of training are you speaking of?" her father asked.

Any training that will help her become an A Class demon. Her demon aura is unusually strong for a child of her age so it won't be too difficult for her," the stranger answered.

"Yes, her aura was unusually strong since birth; my wife died in childbirth because of it," his voice sounded so sad, "Maybe if Sayuri becomes a powerful demon, more than she is now, Maru will have not died in vain."

"Do not worry; with my training you may even have a reason to fear her."

Sayuri did not like the way the conversation was going. She did not want to leave Father or her home behind. Sayuri wanted to stay here where it was safe. Slowly, she started back up the stairs to her room. Sayuri's foot slipped on a step. She fell and was able to catch herself with her hands, though she had hit her knee on a step in the process. Her father and the stranger ceased their talk. Father came out of the room and saw Sayuri trembling on the stairs with her wings wrapped around herself.

"I-I'm sorry, Father. I woke up and…" Sayuri quivered.

Her father came halfway up the stairs and gathered Sayuri into his arms, "Shh, everything is going to be alright now. There's someone I want you to meet."

Father carried her downstairs into the next room where the stranger was waiting.

As one memory faded and ended, another overtook Ayamae's mind, making her, yet again, an unwilling observer.

-Sayuri's Memories: A Love Betrayed-

Sayuri kissed him one last time. She tried to hold back the flood of tears, but it proved impossible. He pulled away when he noticed her tears.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I'm sorry," she pulled out the dagger she had hidden behind her back.

A look of hurt and fear flashed across his face before she plunged the dagger into his heart.

"Sayuri, why?" he managed to say, then collapsed dead into her arms.

Sayuri gently lay him on the ground and began to cry.

"Well done," a voice said behind her. "You are one step closer to becoming the most deadly assassin, but next time, don't cry."

Ayamae forced back the tears the memory had forced even into her eyes, for she had felt the same emotions as Sayuri had. Before she fully got a grip on her emotions, however, another memory took her.

-Sayuri's Memories: Death-

Sayuri stood in her human form, watching a nearby house within the confines of a shady forest. Inside that house was a family she was being paid a large amount of money to assassinate. It was one of the most pathetically easy assignments Sayuri had ever been given. If it wasn't for the large sum of money, she wouldn't even bother with this job. But then again, money was the only thing Sayuri killed for.

She surveyed the house for an entrance and spotted it; an open bedroom window. Sayuri unsheathed her katana and stalked toward the house, using the shadows for cover. She crouched under the open window and took a moment to take in her surroundings. Sayuri sensed two relatively powerful demon auras just inside and two slightly weaker ones further inside the house.

She cursed under her breath; her employer had failed to mention that this was a family of powerful demons. In fact, he had said this would be easy compared to some of the other assassinations she had done. Sayuri was about to go up against four high-class demons all at once. She made a mental note to push for a higher pay.

Sayuri decided it would be best to use the element of surprise so that she would at least have some advantage. She quietly climbed through the open window with her katana ready at her side; big mistake. The two more powerful demons were ready and waiting for her on the other side. She had assumed them to be asleep.

Before Sayuri could react, she received a punch in the jaw from the female demon. The force from the punch caused Sayuri to stumble backwards and drop her katana.

"You bitch," Sayuri spat out, "that was your last mistake."

"Then I suppose that this is your first, Sayuri, Dragon of Death," the female responded. "You should practice your stealth because I could sense your demon aura in my sleep."

Sayuri knew the woman was trying to distract her more than anger her. Out of the corner of her eye Sayuri could see the male demon moving in for an attack. She jumped to her feet with her katana in hand and spun around to meet her attacker. He hesitated for one moment out of surprise, which was all Sayuri needed. She thrust the blade through his heart.

"Nice try, but I'm faster," Sayuri said as the light drained from his eyes.

The woman screamed and came at Sayuri with a dagger. Sayuri didn't have time to retrieve her blade; she could only dodge the woman's attack. As the woman charged her a second time, Sayuri conjured her Blade of Water and ran it through the woman's stomach. The woman was able to give Sayuri a look of hatred before she dropped to the floor, dead.

"Mommy!"

Sayuri withdrew her Blade of Water and turned to find a six-year-old girl standing in the doorway. She was surprised at how powerful this girl's demon aura was, and at such a young age. Though it wasn't too unusual considering how powerful Sayuri had been when she was young.

"Light Shards!" the girl shouted.

Two shards of light shot from the girl's hands and came towards Sayuri. She was able to block one with her Blade of Water, but the other one grazed her arm. Sayuri clenched her teeth at the pain and glared at the six-year-old. The girl shot one more Light Shard at Sayuri and ran from the room. Sayuri knocked the Light Shard aside with her Blade of Water and pursued the girl. She was led outside.

Sayuri caught up to the girl and grabbed her by the hair. She screamed and tried to fight of Sayuri with her fists. Sayuri slashed the girl on the arm with her Blade of Water and threw her to the ground. Sayuri was about to finish the girl off when she sensed someone coming from behind her.

Sayuri turned just in time to block the katana with her Blade of Water. Her attacker, a boy who looked 15 years old, pushed her away and ran to the girl's side. He pulled her up and pushed the girl toward the forest.

"Faith, run! Go hide in the forest! I'll find you!" he yelled at the girl while examining the gash now on his arm- Sayuri figured him to have healing powers.

"I can help!" the girl, Faith, cried.

Sayuri went in for an attack while the boy was distracted.

"No! I want you to go now!" he yelled while blocking her fist. "Go! You'll only distract me! Go!"

The girl ran and disappeared in the forest. Sayuri pulled the boy aside and slashed at him with her Blade of Water, though she only nicked his shoulder, and ran after the girl. The boy wasn't about to let her.

"Black Orb!" she heard him yell.

Sayuri turned and put up her water barrier which absorbed his attack. The boy cursed and ran at Sayuri with his katana at the ready. He swung his sword at her head. Sayuri dodged the attack and slashed his side with her blade. He cried out and stumbled to the ground. The boy took a moment to gather his strength then got to his feet and swung his fist at her face.

Sayuri grabbed his arm to block the attack then sensed at once what he was trying to do: use his spiritual powers to transfer his wounds to her. Sayuri let go of the boy and put up her Blade of Water in defense.

The boy came at her again with his katana. Sayuri waited until the last second then put up her Water Barrier, not to block his attack, but to break his concentration.

The boy stumbled in mid-attack. Sayuri dispersed her water shield and stabbed the boy through the stomach. He fell to the ground, barely alive.

"Faith," the words were barely a whisper on his lips, "I have failed you." The light slowly faded from his eyes as he died.

When Sayuri was sure that he was dead she turned toward the forest. Somewhere that little girl was in there. Sayuri searched for any sign of a demon aura but found none.

"Not my problem anymore," she said to herself. She was being paid to kill, not track and hunt down six-year-old girls. Besides, what harm was there in leaving her live?

Ayamae forced back the rage she felt, also forcing the memory behind barrier after barrier to force Sayuri to have forgotten it permanently. As she finished, another memory forced its way into her mind.

-Sayuri's Memories: The Beginning-

Sayuri waited just outside her master's study. She knew what must be done, but she was still afraid to do it. She went to open the door then stopped. She couldn't bring herself to do it.

"Sayuri, if you have something to ask of me, do it, or go away," her master said within his study.

It was now or never; Sayuri made sure the knife was concealed then entered the room.

Ayamae felt herself thrown out of the girl's head and memories as Sayuri regained consciousness. Ayamae's body fell backward as her mind was flung forcefully back into it. Both girls gasped as Aya hit the ground and Sayuri fully awoke.

_Want me to knock her out again?_ Faith asked her.

_No, that's ok. I've put up enough barriers within her mind that she only knows how to do the basic things and of her powers…at least I think. As I got thrown out I had to throw them up, but they are strong and will endure._

_If you say so…Wait, are you sure? I really want to hit someone._

_You can hit Yusuke._

Faith grinned evilly, _Ok_, she replied. She turned to Yusuke, who was to her right, and threw her fist into the side of his face.

"Ow! What was that for?" he complained.

"I needed to hit someone and Aya suggested you."

"That's no excuse!"

"Let me think… hmm… yeah, it is. You started this mess so you should pay for it."

Faith looked at Sayuri who was glancing about with a confused look across her face.

"What's going on? ... Who are you? ... Wait… Who am I?" Sayuri asked.

Faith glanced at Aya, and they shared a questioning look.

"A demon attacked you in the forest. We saw you fall off the cliff, and came to see if you were hurt. That is why Ayamae was in your mind," he gestured toward the red-head. "She was checking for internal damage."

Sayuri took in the information, but didn't know to react. "So, why don't I remember much?"

Faith stepped in to answer. "We believe you have amnesia from the fall. It was pretty far."

It was then that Sayuri chose to look up. Her eyes widened as she saw the height of the cliff. "Oh."

Faith went to Kurama's side, taking comfort in his closeness. She didn't like Sayuri, mostly because she had worked for Hiroyuki, and therefore might know the shapeshifter she believed had killed her brother.

Sayuri glanced around the group, "I don't suppose any of you know my name?"

Ayamae spoke before anyone had time to react the question, "Suri. Your name is Suri."


	16. The Young and the Hopeless

Chapter 16: The Young and the Hopeless

Sayuri, now called Suri, stood in front of Koenma's desk, nervousness showed with her fidgeting. The Urameshi Team stood to one side waiting for Koenma to speak. What Suri didn't know was that Faith and Ayamae were telepathically telling Koenma what happened.

"That was rather vague, you two," Koenma commented aloud.

Kuwabara and Yusuke looked confused. Suri was too nervous to care. Yusuke caught on. Kuwabara never did.

"Your point?" Ayamae asked.

"I have to agree with Aya," Faith added. "I don't want to waste hours of my time giving you a detailed description when I can easily give you the _Reader's Digest_ version, saving time and effort. Also, I don't think… Suri would be able to wait that long."

Everybody turned their attention to Suri, and she seemed to grow even more nervous with the weight of their gazes. Ayamae thought she was going to pass out or at least hyperventilate.

"Ogre, go get Botan to keep… Suri company," Koenma ordered George.

George turned to leave, but Ayamae stopped him.

"Do you really want to subject Suri to Botan right now?" Faith questioned. "I'm afraid Botan will give the girl a heart attack with her… cheerfulness."

Koenma thought for a second. "Okay, Ogre, take Suri into the hall while I talk to my team."

Yusuke mumbled something along the lines of "my team". Ayamae glared at Koenma, but he didn't seem to notice.

Without preamble, Koenma announced his decision. "I want Sayuri to join Team Urameshi."

The team blinked in confusion mixed with shock. Faith was the first to recover, glaring at the prince.

"No. I will not be on the Team with… HER!" she exclaimed, outraged, pointing toward the now-closed door.

"First off, don't call Suri by her old name. I can't be sure what may break the barriers I placed in her mind. They were hasty and have their weakness, though I can't do anything about that unless she is unconscious and I take these down, but they suffice well enough. Also, Faith and I can control her enough to take care of an emergency, should the need arise," Ayamae explained.

"Aya! I don't even want to be near her! What makes you think I would be willing to control her!"

"Ok, control was the wrong word. … Subdue is much more fitting. I know you could subdue her… simply knock her out while I do what I must."

Faith glared at her. "Fine, but I'm telling you this now. If she shows the slightest sign of betraying us or hurting anyone on this team I WILL kill her."

The team had stood idly during their conflict. Kurama was beside himself on how to calm Faith. He knew if he touched her she'd turn on him, so he remained standing there, concerned.

"Faith, if she were to betray us, I, personally, will kill her along side you," Ayamae said quietly. She remembered the pain Sayuri had caused to so many, including Faith, her own best friend and nearly sister, though she would not voice this fact. Ayamae knew that, given a chance, Suri would be just what the team needed for she was strong, but quite intelligent and quiet. She would be a calm body and mind among the current chaos. She would also be a good friend.

Faith hesitantly nodded her approval, still glaring.

Ayamae smiled slightly. "Thank you, Faith. I believe she could be a great asset to our team. Give her time. Besides, with her we're closer to being even with the guys. We may even get a chance to get away from them," she said in jest, her smile spreading further.

Faith's mood lightened considerably, a grin gracing her features. "I don't know. I'm quite attached to one as it is," she said, taking Kurama's hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Ayamae took a slightly more serious expression when Koenma interrupted the exchange by asking the rest of the team, "And you four? What do you think?"

Yusuke nodded. Kuwabara nodded frantically, commenting, "She's cute, so why not?"

Kurama looked down slightly at Faith, only a couple inches separating their height. She nodded her approval, and Kurama nodded his agreement to Koenma.

Hiei glared at the mini-ruler. "Hn… just keep her away from me."

Koenma called back the ogre George and Suri. He announced to her that she would be staying with Team Urameshi until her memories returned and she was fine again, secretly thinking that there would be no good in her memories returning to her.

The team, complete with its new member, returned to the temple to unwind from the recent camping trip and mission.

-Many hours later-

Ayamae closed the book she had been reading, thoughts of Anita Blake, Jean-Claude, and Richard dancing through her mind… okay, so it was more fighting each other, but the thoughts remained. She left the window open, the night air clear, crisp, and warm.

She pulled out a tank top and a pair of sweat pants and placed them on the bed. She took a moment to glance around the room, for the first time truly observing her surroundings. The canopy bed was covered in red sheets and drapes with a black comforter. The pillows were either red or black, all five of them. The floor was thick, plush, black carpeting that feet sank into easily. The wood was a deep cherry stain to keep with the dark theme. The wood included the bedside table, desk, and doorframes. The bathroom connecting her and Faith's rooms had a black marble counter top with silver fixtures, black marble tiles covering the floor, and a deep crimson shower curtain topped off the look. The walls softened the look by being a cream color.

She turned back to her clothes and began to change. She pulled the pants on and began to change her shirt. As she was pulling on the new top she felt eyes on her. She paused, the shirt resting just above her bared breasts, turning slowly toward the window.

There she saw him, Hiei sitting in the tree outside the window, mouth gaping open, staring at her as she had been changing. She was unsure whether her face was pale or blushed beyond knowledge, but she knew embarrassment showed, easily recognizable.

"Hiei, I'm going to…" she paused, remembering the still-half on top and moving quickly to cover herself, "I'm gonna kick your ass!"

Hiei jumped into the room, holding her arms to her sides with only his hands. "Are you sure? You were slow to cover yourself to me. I know you… lust after me. I can smell it on you."

"I'm in heat, remember, asshole!"

"I'm aware of that, but there is longing underneath that. You want me, despite the heat. You know that, even if you don't want to admit it. Being in heat provides you an excuse until you can figure out your true feelings toward me," he said, releasing her arms.

"You bastard!" she cried out, raising her arm to backhand him. Hiei caught her wrist in his hand and brought it to his lips. He kissed the back of her hand and she stopped struggling. He suddenly twisted he arm behind her back and forced her to lay face down onto the bed. He leaned over her, and she could feel the line of his body pressed against hers, his voice deep with arousal. She jumped slightly as she felt his physical arousal pressed against her leg.

He smirked slightly, almost gently, as he whispered in her ear, "See? I knew you would react like this. You have full control of yourself. The heat, your excuse, is wearing off. You care. You want this. You want more. I see it in your eyes, your body… your," he paused, taking a deep breath, taking in her scent, "reactions."

She felt a blush cross her face at his blunt suggestion. "Hiei," she muttered, her voice slightly shaky, "stop this."

"But you want this. I know you do," he said, nuzzling her hair, breathing her in.

"Hiei…"

"I'm not going to hurt you. I won't go beyond comfort," he said, grazing his hand down her side and around her behind.

"Hiei, please."

"As you wish, Yamae." He took both her hands into one of his own and turned her onto her back. Before she could protest, he kissed her deeply, the complaint dying in her throat as his tongue passed her lips. He moaned into her mouth, forcing a high-pitched, almost whimpering from her own.

He smiled against her mouth and placed his hand on her stomach, moving it up over her shirt. As he reached her breast, he brushed it lightly. She gasped, breaking the kiss. "If you're going to do something, don't tease me. Just cut to the chase," she muttered huskily.

His smile grew as he moved his hand beneath her shirt to continue what he had been doing before. Ayamae's head tilted backwards as she sighed in bliss. Her breath came in short gasps, slightly light-headed.

"Please, Hiei. Please," she moaned, squirming beneath his touch.

Hiei removed his hand from her shirt and slightly pulled her pants down, exposing a small section of her stomach. He placed a light kiss on the sensitive exposed area.

"Please! Please, Hiei!"

"No," he said, vanishing through the window, leaving her alone.

She shot up on the bed, screaming her frustration. "Get back here, you bastard!"

She awaited a response, though all she heard was a knock on the door and Faith's voice asking, "Uh… Aya? Are you okay?"

"… Honestly? No. But will I live? Yes. Will he? NO!"

Faith opened the door and stuck her head in, "You want to tell me what's up?"

"Want to tell you… yeah. But I don't think you want to know."

"… Oh. Well, I'll go and let you… vent."

"Thanks, sis."

Faith looked at her for a long moment and then shut the door.

-With Kurama and Faith-

Kurama sat in Faith's room on one of the big, black chairs. The chair could fit them both so Faith sat sideways laying her head against his chest, one arm draped over his stomach and his arms holding her to him. In one word, cuddling.

"Are you okay?" Kurama asked, breaking the silence.

She tilted her up to look at him, a question in her eyes, "What do you mean?"

"Suri." He said the name as if it explained everything. It did.

She settled her head back against his chest, her arms tightening around him. "No, I'm not okay. I can't help but dislike her. She worked for Hiroyuki, which also means she might know the shapeshifter." She snuggled up against him.

Kurama moved the arm that was under her so that his hand could tuck her hair behind her ear. "She will be different now. Ayamae blocked all the memories that made her Sayuri. She is, in fact, Suri, even if the two look the same."

She looked up at him, smiling. "I suppose you're right. But it will take some time for me to accept her as such."

He returned her smile, "I couldn't ask for more."

The two stared at each other for an unknown amount of time. The world seemed to stop around them as they drank in each other's eyes.

Faith whispered softly to him. "Kiss me."

His smile spread and he leaned down, capturing her lips with his. His mouth moved surely against hers. Their bodies turned more toward each other, giving them a better angle. She picked up her left leg and draped it across his lap, allowing him to move closer. His tongue slid across her lower lip, begging for entrance. She opened her mouth to his, letting him in, tasting him as he tasted her. She moaned against his mouth, as a tingling feeling went up her spine. He finally broke the kiss, staring down at her face. She took in shaky breaths, trying to slow her heart's beating. She saw a small smile play across his lips when she opened her eyes. The hand that belonged to the arm under him was entangled in his hair, moving around the rose she knew lay in that red softness.

"It seems your time of heat is passing," Kurama said softly.

She grinned, "Great. That means we can do this without fear that I'll… jump you. That seems to be an accurate way of phrasing it."

He nodded.

A scream pierced the silence, and the smile fell from both of them.

"What was that?" Kurama asked.

Faith thought for a moment. She knew who it was, but what she didn't know is why her best friend could possibly be screaming. Then it hit her, and the smile returned to her face. "It was Aya. I think she and Hiei are fighting… again."

He smiled at the thought, but pushed it aside. He had better things to do at the moment.

Faith let out a small sound of surprise as Kurama leaned forward and kissed her neck. Passion swept through her body, leaving behind a faint tingling of pleasure. She pushed her hips against his with need. He smiled against her neck. It seemed he had found a weakness. He left a trail of slow, sensual kisses across her neck until he found her pulse. His teeth nipped gently at the skin, and she gasped. His kisses moved back the opposite way he had come, up to the line of her jaw, coming back up to meet her lips. He kissed her achingly slow and his teeth bit gently on her bottom lip. This continued for what seemed an endless amount of time before he pulled back. Her breathing was harsh and ragged as she gazed up at him. He smiled with satisfaction. Faith finally regained a steady breath.

"God, that was great."


	17. The Shape Shifter

Chapter 17: The Shape Shifter

"We're going back in," Ayamae stated.

"You're what?" Koenma asked, not sure if he had heard her right.

"We can't let him live any longer," Ayamae explained further.

"Who knows what he's planning to do," Faith said, helping their cause. "We have discussed it as a team… Suri included, and we all agreed."

Koenma sat in silence for so long one would think he didn't know what to say.

Faith interrupted his train of thought or lack thereof, "Koenma, it's not a good thing if a ruler doesn't have a thing to say."

"We're going. Whether you like it or not, we have to do this. Faith and I need this," Ayamae said, showing a slight tenderness.

Koenma looked at the team each in turn and saw a determination and solemn seriousness in each of them. He didn't think he could argue with that. He sighed heavily, "So be it." A portal opened beside his desk. "This portal is closer to the location Faith and Ayamae provided than the last one."

"Thank you, Lord Koenma," Faith said and bowed.

Ayamae hesitated, but gave a slow nod.

Koenma was left speechless with his jaw in the downright position while the team entered the portal to the Makai.

The group emerged from the portal into Makai. Ayamae and Faith looked through the dark of the dense trees, setting their gazes coolly upon the one-story fortress they hadn't laid eyes on for nigh ten years. The girls took each other's hand and shared a slight squeeze before heading in the direction of the structure. Kurama and Hiei shared a brief knowing look before following the two. Suri simply shrugged at the movement and proceeded.

Yusuke and Kuwabara shared a look containing raised eyebrows and intrigued looks.

"Since when did they become girlfriends?" they asked in unison. The group looked back with glares, as though the movement had been choreographed.

"What?" Kuwabara asked idiotically. He received no answer from the now-turned backs of the girls.

The entrance was in sight, dark and foreboding though it was. The two stopped momentarily to allow their companions to catch up to them, and to take in great detail of the demon leaning up against the wall next to the gated entrance. He wore black leather pants and black boots, his shirt being white to contrast. It was loose on him and nearly see-through to the point someone could see the outline of his body, the broadness of his shoulders, his slender waist, and his muscular arms and chest. The shirt was long-sleeved and laced up the front from his lower chest to below his collar bones, though he hadn't really tied it that tight so you could see the pale skin of his chest. His shaggy, light blue hair hung about his ears, and his black eyes stared at them intently and joyfully, his six feet helping him tower over Faith and Ayamae.

Cold looks were shared by the best friends at his unexplainable pleasantness, an untrustworthy quality. "What? Are you happy you are about to die?" Faith asked, a matching smirk crossing both their faces.

"Not now that I know you don't remember me, dear, Faith. I definitely remember you," he said, looking up and down Faith's figure.

Faith glared at his unwelcome attention.

"Now, hold it! She did not give you permission to undress her! With your eyes or any other way," Ayamae protested, growing protective of her friend.

"But we already shared a passionate kiss when we barely knew each other, why not go further?"

Faith's glare faded, and she stood there wide-eyed, mouth slightly agape.

He sighed, figuring he had to give a visual for all of them to understand. "I will show you, though I do not like this form much." He then shifted into Yusuke.

"You!" Faith exclaimed, her suspicion confirmed.

The shape shifter then shifted back into his previous form. All of the team looked pissed except Kuwabara, who was confused, and Hiei, who didn't appear to react.

Faith rushed at him, drawing her katana, but the shape shifter used his teleporting power, and appeared behind her.

"Looking for me? I knew you couldn't resist," he whispered to her sweetly.

Faith spun around, bring her katana in an upward arc, but before her attack landed he grabbed her wrist. His grip was tight and grew tighter as he twisted her wrist a way it wasn't meant to go. Faith tried to fight the pain and succeeded, but eventually the muscles that allowed her to grip her katana stop working because of the angle of her wrist. The katana fell to the ground a couple feet away. He then kicked it away from his them and the Urameshi Team.

The shifter turned back to Faith. He twisted her arm behind her back and pulled her to him, turning them both to face the Urameshi Team. The front of his body was pressed tightly against his back to the point she could feel every muscle in his chest, arms, and even the muscle between his legs, which told her how much he wanted her.

The hand that wasn't holding her to him slid across her stomach and up her chest to lay on her left breast, his thumb stroking it. She tried to pull away from him, but he kept his grip on her arm tight. She could feel his breath and then his mouth on her ear. After placing a kiss he spoke.

"I'm so glad you remember me now. All I've been able to think about is our moment together. Your time of heat was very beneficial. It helped you lose control, so you could be with me. So, I could kiss you. So that I could press your body against the counter in that cozy little kitchen with mine pinning yours. Your lips moved so wonderfully against mine, with so much need, desire. And your tongue in my mouth… oh…" he shuddered. "I would so love to do that again, but your time of heat has nearly ended, and we wouldn't be able to repeat it. Though, I have to say taking you unwillingly would give me just as much pleasure, maybe even more. It would be wondrous to see your lovely body writhe under mine in pleasure as you tried to fight me and get away."

All through his monologue Kurama's calm, as well as Ayamae's, was crumbling, showing their rage and concern of Faith's predicament. Even Hiei was getting pissed off. Yusuke and Kuwabara acted much the same.

Faith stood there unmoving, fear overriding every other emotion and showing plainly in her expression.

The shape shifter suddenly laughed at her reaction to his words. She had tensed at first, but she slowly shrank, wanting nothing but to get away from this demon and huddle in a corner with Kurama's arms wrapped around her and his comforting words.

The demon looked at Ayamae who stood angry, yet horrified that this demon kept fondling her best friend. When he spoke his gaze stayed on Ayamae, but the words were mostly for woman receiving his 'affection'.

"I did not kill your brother, your family. If you wish the truth why not ask Ayamae?" he asked, changing the subject, and grinning at his plot to divide the two friends.

Faith's gaze turned toward Ayamae, "Wh-what is he talking about, Aya? Why does he think you know?" Her voice faltered at first, her fear even more noticeable. She was oblivious to the shifter's hand now roaming freely over her body.

Ayamae's expression fell, as her gaze did, to the ground. Seconds later she looked back up and met Faith's eyes. Her voice was quiet as she spoke, "Because I do know who killed Kieran and your parents."

Faith's eyes widened in disbelief, "B-but how…"

Ayamae glanced at Suri and then back at Faith.

"She knew?" Faith asked in a trembling voice, only aware of half the truth Ayamae's glance was meant to reveal. "How would she know?"

Ayamae looked at the ground again, but this time she didn't look back up, so the shape shifter answered for her.

"Because she's the one who killed them." His hand had stopped roaming and now rested on her stomach.

The sky grew dark as the clouds blotted out the sun. Wind swept harshly over them, blowing hair into faces, and clothes about the bodies of their owners. Raindrops came down, slowly at first then growing to a steady downpour.

Faith's face went hard with anger, her icy blue eyes tinted a glowing black. She slowly turned her head toward Suri, who suddenly looked very confused and afraid.

The shape shifter gently let go of Faith as she pulled away from him.

It was then that Ayamae attacked the shape shifter, but Faith didn't seem to notice. Hiei and Kuwabara went to help Ayamae, leaving Yusuke to stand protectively at Suri's side and Kurama contemplating how to handle Faith. Faith continued to walk threateningly toward Suri.

"Faith," Kurama called, taking a step toward her.

She ignored him.

Kurama moved in front of her, stopping her forward movement. She slowly looked up at him, her eyes still a tinted glowing black. He stared her down, not touching her.

"She will die." Faith said it like there was no question. In her mind there wasn't.

"She already has," Kurama stated.

The glowing black faded slightly. "What?"

"Sayuri no longer exists. Only Suri. Suri is now what she was meant to be. The demon that killed your brother and your family no longer exists. Let go."

Faith's eyes slowly returned to normal, tears now spilling down her face. She let out a sob. "Kurama?" She said his name with a voice that held all her sorrow, fear, and need for him to hold her, to soothe her.

He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly to him. Her legs then gave way, pulling them both to the ground. He held her as she cried into his chest, her hands tightly gripping his shirt.

"Let go," he whispered to her, "Let go."

She did. She continued to cry through both her eyes and through the clouds that cluttered the sky. Kurama told Yusuke and Suri to join the others in the fight with the shape shifter and they did.

Ayamae looked at the shape shifter: her opponent. He had done permanent damage to her and Faith's relationship. He could not live for his offense. Aya sensed the team at her back, ready to attack him as well.

"This is my fight. I will take him down myself or go down in the process. He **will** die by my hand for what he's done."

"Then try and do so. I have already been promised my choice female by Hiroyuki for your defeat," the shifter responded.

A low growl sounded from Ayamae's throat. She slowly and purposefully drew her katana from its sheath. She took a moment to focus walked toward her opponent, her blade at her side. The only expression and feeling showing was the pure, unadulterated hatred in her eyes.

A fire burned in Ayamae's eyes as she was engulfed in an inferno as she shifted to her demon form, enhancing her abilities. Her now-red eyes glowed brightly with her anger.

"Clear Inferno," she growled softly, flicking her wrist slightly.

The shape shifter smirked and flicked his own wrist idly, saying, "Reversal Mirror." Aya simply smiled as the sheet of reflective ice materialized and the near-invisible attack came rushing back at her. Another flick of her wrist and the attack dissipated.

"That won't work," she said simply. The smirk disappearing from her face. "Try again, fool."

He continued to smile smugly at her, as though he knew something she did not. He raised his hand at the elbow, a blue ball of flame hovering just out of his hand. "Ice Fire," he muttered, sending the flame toward Aya.

"Reversal Mirror," she said, sending up her own shield. "I grow tired of this pointless exchange," she said, reaching up, a blizzard of snow surrounding her.

The snow cleared to reveal the lesser used of her forms. Her hair now a light blue that reached her waist in a straight line. Her light blue eyes stood out with the light blue tank top, dark blue short shorts, and dark blue gloves covering her arms.

She took a moment to lift a small section of the long hair, commenting, "Wow… I truly haven't used this form longer than I'd thought… oh, well." She dropped the hair over her shoulder with a flick of her wrist and a turn of her head. She reached her right hand across her stomach and grasped the hilt of her katana and pulled it free of its sheath. She held it before her and ran her left hand over the blade, leaving behind a layer of bright blue ice on the surface of the blade.

"You see, I have my own ice abilities." She began moving toward him. "Are you going to fight back, or will you not and simply let me mutilate your corpse?"

"Oh, I'll do so much more than simply fight you. I'll give you the experience of your life by simply letting you watch while I take Faith as my mate after killing all of your companions."

"You will not lay one of your disgusting fingers on her, let alone mark her as your own. I will not let you," she said, her voice steady and monotone, though her eyes glowed from her increased anger.

The shape-shifter ran his left hand over his right, leaving a blade made wholly of ice behind. The jagged edges gleamed in the little sunlight leaking through the rain and clouds.

The two raced at the other, blades meeting with a 'chink' sound that only comes from ice meeting ice. Ayamae jumped back, doing a flip in the air and raced back at him, her blade once again raised. The blades met again, their wielders holding tightly, yet gaining no ground. They parted again and he sent out his attack. "Blizzard," he said, his hand surrounded in his light blue aura, a snowstorm surrounding Ayamae unexpectedly, the bits of ice and snow cutting her skin sharply.

She cried out momentarily as the thought crossed her mind, _I'm getting nowhere in this form, but the rain isn't heavy enough to truly harm my abilities. _She surrounded herself, once again, in her inferno to return to her fire form, melting the ice and snow in the process.

She emerged with small cuts covering her arms, legs, face, and rips in her clothing. Her breathing was slightly heavy and she felt her teammates advancing toward her, to help her.

"No. I will finish this myself. If I must die to take him down, I'll do it. Stand down and stay out of my fight," she commanded.

_Don't be a fool, girl. You will die,_ Hiei told her.

_If I must for him to be defeated, I will. I kept this from my own best friend. If she can not trust me, I have no other reason to live._

_Baka, on'na! You have much here for you! You still haven't avenged your family! I will not let you escape that task._

…_do you care but that it is another fight? Do you care about me? No, you do not. Leave me live or die on my own,_ she said this last comment as the glove on her right arm ripped off and black flame engulfed her arm. Ayamae stiffened her face, hiding the pain that this attack caused. She offered her arm for the power of the depths of the demon world.

Ayamae's POV

_Don't you dare! You may not know what happened when I used it foolishly and prematurely during the Dark Tournament, but I shall not forget. I lost the use of my arm doing exactly what you are currently. You will regret it later_, Hiei warned me.

_I must. If I have any hope of using this against Hiroyuki, I must do as you did: overcome and control the dragon. _

_That was no simple task. You may fail._

_Be that as it may, you may not survive. You need to live to fulfill the prophecy with Faith. Besides, who would I pick on with you gone?_

_Thanks for the sentiment, Hiei. You're such a flatterer… _I let the sarcasm drip off my words as I closed off my mind from all others and the distractions they held.

Nobody's POV

During this exchange, sheer black flames that spread to cover her body and surround her aura had covered Ayamae's arm. The bandana covering her head ripped away from her forehead, revealing her bright Jagan eye glowing.

Rays of black energy rose from in the ground and matching energy came down like lightning from the sky. A ring of energy like that from the ground and sky became a ring around Aya and the shape shifter. The ring expanded, surpassingly missing her companions. The building near the two, somehow unknown to any, was not harmed.

She pulled her arm back and pushed it forward through the rising amounts of energy surrounding her, coming from the depths of the spirit world.

The dragon burst forth, targeting itself to the newly-shifted opponent. He now wore an outfit and look perfectly replicating Ayamae's, as a dragon look-alike came after her. She knew this to be a fake, she'd heard him cast his own attack of Mimic, doing exactly what it said: mimicking her own attack aimed at him, though no harm was possible.

The dragons flew at each other, the true danger ripping through the replica and continued racing toward the shape shifter. When the dragon was upon him, he teleported next to Ayamae, grappling with her hand-to-hand. The dragon turned to the two grappling fighters, Ayamae and the fake look-alike.

The dragon raced at the two, not knowing which was the target or the caster. Not that there was much of a care. Devour the caster, be freed, eat everyone, or simply devour the targeted one. Not that it mattered much.

The dragon swallowed Ayamae, her opponent having fled once again. Her face was stiff and blank, as though she wished for this action to happen as it did. The dragon curled, twisted, and tumbled in the air after devouring its caster. The dragon began to flicker and fade as it writhed, almost as though in pain. It curled into a ball that quickly expanded and contracted repeatedly then opened to reveal Ayamae's silhouette before the blue and black flaming energy.

It hurled toward the ground leaving behind a hole and a plume of bright, dancing flames. As the cloud of smoke and duct cleared, Ayamae stood on the ground, unscathed, her aura more visible and slightly blue-tinged. She now had a black dragon snaking about her arm, from wrist to halfway up her upper arm.

"Be afraid, fool. I have done what only one has succeeded in doing before me. I have consumed the Darkness technique. I am now another person that holds the dragon in my body." The dragon's mark faded away, no longer in sight, but remaining in mind.

"Now, be gone," she said, leaping into the air, becoming the dragon itself. She raced toward her opponent and devoured him before he could even think to react. She landed lightly on her feet.

She blinked rapidly a few times, muttering, "I'm sleepy now…" She began to sway slightly with fatigue and Hiei approached her.

"Perhaps you should have been warned of this. You've used too much energy, both physical and spiritual. I'll keep an eye on you while you rest," Hiei said, placing his arms around her, steadying her. "Thank you," she said, placing her arms around his neck. She then jumped, using what little power she had to do so, and let him catch her behind her back and knees. This was unexpected, however, and caused him to lose his balance. He stumbled and tried to regain it, but was unable and fell back, Ayamae in his arms safely.

Once on the ground, she snuggled into the crook of his shoulder and fell even deeper into sleep, breathing deeply of his scent.

Yusuke walked op the couple and knelt beside them, smirking. "You and your girlfriend comfy?"

"Don't make me hurt you…"

"Get 'em, Hiei," she muttered lightly in her sleep.

Hiei started to move her aside but she clung to him. "Never mind,"  
she muttered, still asleep. "Go 'way, Yusuke…"

The rain lessened until there was none, and the clouds dissipated. What that revealed left the Urameshi Team, minus their sleeping comrade, staring wide-eyed at the sky.

Half the sky was as it would be at night, stars glittering and the crescent moon shining its moonlight. The other half of the sky was light blue as it would be during the day, the sun shining brightly.

Faith's tears had stopped and Kurama helped her to stand.

"I love you," he whispered to her.

She stared at him, trying to process what he had just said. He took her hand and led her to the others before she had a chance to reply.

"What the hell was that?!" Yusuke exclaimed.

Faith knew he was referring to her black-tinted eyes and the sudden change in forecast, "I'm not sure, but whatever it may be, it was connected to my powers over darkness, and obviously my very limited weather power."

"So, uhh…who's up for a campout?" Kuwabara asked meekly, a small, shy grin on his face.

"I would think she is, seeing as she's out like a burnt out light bulb…" Yusuke said, indicating Ayamae.

Faith looked up at Kurama, but her words were for another. "Hiei, your booted from Kurama's tent. I'm taking your spot. You can have mine." She then turned toward to whom she was speaking. "But if I find out you've done something to Ayamae that she would kill you for, I will do it in her stead." She reached into her pocket and pulled out the communicator. "Koenma, we need the tents again."

"Wait! I need Aya's help with these things!" Kuwabara complained.

"And my help isn't enough?" Faith protested.

"Kuwabara, get a brain and learn on your own… I'm sleeping," came Ayamae's last utterance of the night.


	18. Closer

Chapter 18: Closer

Faith retrieved her katana from where the shape shifter had kicked it and slid it back in its sheath, taking comfort at the returned weight on her hip.

Faith then turned to Suri. Everybody, except the sleeping Ayamae, suddenly grew nervous, and tensed, more than ready to stop Faith if they had to.

She had stopped a foot from Suri and looked her up and down, her face thoughtful and the smile that had been there seconds ago was now gone. Her gaze stopped at Suri's face and she stared into her eyes. Suri was confused, scared, and her hands had a fine tremble.

Faith suddenly beamed at the girl, extending her hand, "Welcome to Team Urameshi."

Suri exhaled the breath she had been holding. The trembling disappeared, and a smile of happiness replaced the scared and confused look. She took Faith's hand and everyone visibly relaxed.

A portal opened interrupting their exchange. The tents arrived as they had last time, except this time a black bag for each person arrived with them, labels with names the only way to tell the difference between whose was whose.

They carried the stuff farther into the forest so that they weren't camping out directly on Hiroyuki's doorstep.

Kurama carried Hiei's bag, and Faith carried Ayamae's, seeing as how Hiei's arms were full with Ayamae.

Within the hour the tents had been set up. As stated before, Kurama and Faith shared a tent, and Hiei and Ayamae shared one, one being red and the other black respectively. Kuwabara and Yusuke shared their green tent again, leaving Suri with her own blue one. No body minded this arrangement. In fact everyone was quite pleased with it.

Faith sat with her back against the front of Kurama, his arms around her and his hands gently prodding her right hand. He had insisted that he take a look at it after the way the shape shifter had twisted it, and especially when it started to form a purplish bruise. She hadn't made a sound or much of a movement throughout his examination.

He sighed, and his breath glided across her ear, which was right next to his mouth. "You're hiding your pain."

"Of course. I have always had to. It takes a lot for me not to."

"Then just tell me when it hurts."

She nodded, causing his cheek to rub up against her hair. He began putting slight pressure on different points along her hand, wrist, and lower forearm, and, as she agreed, she told him when it hurt.

When he was done his left hand remained holding her wrist lightly in his hand, and the fingers on his right hand gently trailed over the skin of her palm, wrist, and forearm. "You wrist is sprained. We'll have to bandage it."

"It will be healed by tomorrow. Two days at the very most."

"But it is hurt right now. Tomorrow afternoon you can take it off if it is better."

She sighed in a defeated fashion, "You're lucky I love you too."

His hand stopped dancing along her arm, and remained absolutely still. After a few seconds she turned in his arms so that she could read his face. What she saw was love, and relief. She smiled up at him before kissing him on the line of his jaw, her kisses moved to his chin and then to his mouth. Her tongue flicked across his bottom lip, tasting him, before she kissed him fully.

Kurama gently laid Faith's arm in her lap, before wrapping his left arm around her stomach, and placing his right hand in her hair just behind her ear, his thumb resting on her jaw line. He continued the loving of her mouth as he did this, and was very coordinated in doing so.

She turned in his arms to face him, rising to her knees, forcing his arms to wrap themselves around her waist and him to angle his head upward to remain connected to her. Her right hand lay on his chest and her left on his cheek. He pulled her tighter to him, causing her injured hand to be bent and pressed harshly between their bodies. A small pain sound came from her against his lips, surprising him. He pulled back so that she could pull her hand from between them.

She looked down into his eyes and saw what the coming order was going to be. She sighed and sat down in front of him while he bandaged her wrist.

When he was done she studied his work. It was as close to perfect as one could get. She looked up into his face and smiled. He returned it.

"We should get out of these clothes. They're still damp," she said, and only after did she see it could be taken two totally different ways.

He seemed to understand what she meant though, laughing slightly at her unintended invitation.

She pulled a plain black, long-sleeved shirt out of her bag and held it out in front of her. It looked as if it would reach mid-thigh on her. She decided this would be enough and shorts would not be necessary.

She then proceeded to pull off her shirt and pants leaving her in only her black bra and underwear. She then seemed to remember Kurama and turned her head to look at him. He sat there with only a pair of black sweatpants on and blushed.

Faith laughed at the cuteness of it. "I'll have to draw that so you can see your face. So very cute."

He smiled at her as she pulled the shirt over head, and pulled her hair out from under it. She had judged correctly. It did hit her about mid-thigh. She pulled a brand new sketchpad and some mechanical pencils out of her bag, then crawled to him.

"You meant now?" he questioned, laughter in his eyes.

"Why not? It won't take long. I promise."

He simply nodded as she settled herself between his outstretched legs and sat with her back against his bare chest.

As she promised it had taken her a short time, about twenty minutes or so. He protested at first when he realized she was going to use her right hand, but one look from Faith and the protest soon died on his lips.

He hugged her a little tighter, laughing slightly. "You're right. I did look cute."

She turned her head to look up at him. "And look who's full of himself."

His smile faded, and so did hers when she saw the look in his eyes. She looked upon his face in awe and apprehension. She had never seen this side of him before, this look and all the promise it held, all the heat, the need, and the desire it held.

He moved toward her as if to kiss her, but moved to the side, kissing her cheek then kissing down her jaw to her neck. He found her pulse again and let his teeth dig in slightly. She gasped in pleasure, pushing back against his body, her hands gripping his thighs. At this he applied more pressure, causing a low growl mixed with almost a purr to escape from her throat and her grip tightened. He laughed slightly at this, and removed his mouth. She laid back, all her weight on him, her breathing slightly heavy.

"Let's get some sleep," he said after a few seconds.

She nodded, not sure if she could speak yet.

She slowly put her sketchpad and pencils away before turning back to him. He laid down on the fully opened sleeping bag, pulling her with him. They ended up in a position they both liked very much. He lay on his back with her head on his shoulder and upper chest, her arm draped across his stomach and her left leg draped over his. His arm was wrapped around her, slightly under, his hand lying on her hip, pulling her tight against him. His other arm lay so that his hand could stroke Faith's arm through the thin, black fabric. Her right hand, the injured one, came up between their bodies and lay on her hip just under his hand.

"You don't expect me to fall right asleep after a display like that, do you?" she asked.

"Yes, I do."

"Your expectations are too high."

He looked down at her, an eyebrow raised. "Really?"

"Really."

"Nice to know," he said, mostly to himself, and looked back up at the top of the tent.

She sat there and sulked. _How dare he just turn on the sexy and then turn it off that suddenly! Some man he is! Women have needs too!_

As though reading her thoughts he spoke, "I'm not like other men, and I'm not like other demons, for that matter. I won't let my physical need overtake my logic. That is why I did not go further."

She thought about that for a moment, and then mentally kicked herself for acting so childish. _I knew Kurama was different from other men. How dare I accuse him of ignoring my needs!_ She buried her face into his chest, ashamed of herself for thinking what she did.

He hugged her tightly for a brief moment, "It's okay. We all have our moments."

She moved her face away from his chest again, "You don't."

"Of course, forgive my forgetfulness," he said in a matter-of-fact tone.

She hit him lightly on the hip with her left hand, "Kurama!"

He laughed, "It was a joke."

"I know," she laughed with him.

The laughter died and they soon fell asleep, Faith to the beating of Kurama's heart, and Kurama to the sound of her steady breathing.

Hiei opened and entered the tent. He placed Ayamae on the tent's floor momentarily to unroll a sleeping bag, if for nothing more than to lay on, for the night was a warm one. He pulled her over to him as he sat down in the center of the opened sleeping bag.

He held her against him for a moment, feeling her body against his. He looked down at her slightly lower face, a small smirk on his face. He brushed the back of his hand across her cheek, feeling her skin and finding it softer than he had imagined.

He pulled his hand away and lay down, pulling her against him. He lay on his side with her against him and held her in a position similar with her back to him and his arm around her waist, holding her softly yet tightly against him. He soon slept in this position that led to a sleep deeper and more peaceful than any he could remember having in as long as his memory reached.

Faith woke up, why, she did not know. She gently slipped out of Kurama's embrace, only disturbing him slightly. She froze for a second, expecting him to wake up and ask why she was leaving. He didn't, though, and sighed heavily in his sleep. She smiled, laughing inwardly. He looked so cute when he slept.

She left the tent, stretching out in the cool night air. Still she could not figure out what had woken her. Hiei and Ayamae's tent came within her line of sight, and since she was up she decided to check on them.

She crept over to the tent, kneeling in front of it, the blades of grass prickling her bare legs. She silently opened the tent flap to see Hiei with his arm around Ayamae, both asleep. He held her against the front of him, her back to him. In a word, spooning.

She had trouble holding back laughter at the sight. They looked good together, and Hiei looked… innocent, if you can believe it, when he slept. She closed the tent just as quietly as she opened it and stood up, brushing off her knees.

"Nice legs."

She whirled around to find a smirking Yusuke.

"Thanks…" Faith said, slightly panicked at the thought of this being the shape shifter… somehow.

Yusuke seemed to hear her thoughts and held up his hands, a 'don't-hurt-me-I'm-innocent' gesture. "I promise it's me."

She reached out for his spirit energy, and found that it was truly Yusuke. He lowered his hands slowly, making sure she wasn't going to panic if he moved to fast.

She hugged him suddenly. So suddenly that he stumbled backward, though he caught his balance. He blinked, once, twice, slowly, before putting his arms around her. It was quiet for a minute before she spoke.

"You really are smarter than you act most of the time."

Yusuke smiled softly, "Thank you, I guess."

She let go and Yusuke led her away from Hiei and Ayamae's tent as to not disturb them.

"How are you doing?" he asked softly, gently.

"I'm okay. A lot better than I was before I met all of you, especially Kurama." She smiled softly at the thought of him.

"You love him."

She snapped out of her dreamy look and stared wide-eyed at him. "You can tell?"

He grinned, "Yeah, you look at Kurama the same way he looks at you. Kurama told me after the fight with," he gestured toward the blue tent, cautiously not saying her previous name in case she was listening, "that he loved you, but wasn't sure if you felt the same. He asked me if I knew- if you had told me something, or if I noticed anything he didn't. Truth is, I think everyone knew how you two felt about each other before you did."

"My dilemma was different," she said, staring at the red tent where Kurama slept. "All the people I have ever loved are dead. I was afraid to love another." She looked back at Yusuke. "I love Aya, but I figure the only reason she isn't dead is because she is like me in that sense. I couldn't handle it if I lost him too, Yusuke," tears started to fall from her eyes at the thought. "I just couldn't."

This time Yusuke was the one who hugged Faith. She cried silently into his shoulder.

He whispered to her, "You won't lose him. He's had some close calls, but he's always pulled through. Tell him what you told me, and he'll tell you the same." He pulled back far enough to look into her tear-filled eyes and smiled, "I expect to be invited to the wedding."

The tears slowly stopped, and stared at him. "What wedding? Are you saying he's going to propose? It's a little early for that don't you think? I mean we haven't even had sex, yet. I mean, I'm all for no sex until after marriage if that's the way he wants to go, but we haven't talked about it yet. Then there's all the planning, and we haven't even defeated Hiroyuki yet! He better wait until after that, though it would be kind of romantic if he asked me in the middle of the fight or beforehand, but it's still to soon. I'd like-"

She was interrupted when Yusuke's hand covered her mouth, him laughing, trying not to be too loud, "Woah, Woah! I didn't mean to imply that he was proposing, and I certainly don't want to hear about you two doing the dirty. All I meant is that you two will live to get married, have kids, and do all the stuff old people do."

He slowly removed his hand, being cautious.

She smiled, "Thank you, Yusuke. You can go back to bed now."

He smiled back, "Nice pajamas, by the way. I'm sure Kurama agrees."

She laughed slightly, "That's into the topic you didn't want to know about, remember?"

He laughed quietly, "Yeah, I remember. 'Night."

"'Night."

She went back into the tent, closing the flap behind her.


	19. Doubts

Note: We are still intending to rewrite the first few chapters, so that will probably happen either after we finish this story (only a few more chapters, by the way) or we get an impenetrable writer's block (we should all hope against this). Also, we hope that you have enjoyed the semi-regular posting, though it was technically by accident that this happened. Of course, we hope to continue this rapid succession of updates until this is a completed project. But, anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 19:

Faith crawled over to Kurama's sleeping form. She hovered over him, knees straddling his hips and hands on either side of his head, not touching him at all. She stayed like this for a minute watching him sleep, and taking in every feature of his face.

"I won't die," he said in the silence. So much for him being asleep.

She stared at him wide-eyed as he turned his head to look up at her. Her eyes turned from surprised to solemn, and sorrow filled. "Don't make promises you can't keep," she whispered.

They made no move to touch each other, but remained staring into each other's eyes.

He spoke many seconds later. "It is true. I cannot promise that I won't die, but I can promise I will do everything in my power to live, to live for you."

Her expression changed to surprise again then quickly faded to a small smile. "You're very much the romantic type." It was then she made a move to touch him.

She lay down on top of him, her head on his shoulder and upper chest and her arms clinging to his sides from elbow to fingertips.

"So, you heard the whole conversation, did you?" she asked, smirking.

"Yes."

"What do think of sex before marriage?"

The Next Morning-

"Is she up yet?"

"No."

"Is she up yet?"

"No."

"Is she up yet?"

"No."

"Is she up yet? Ow!" Kuwabara yelped as Faith smacked him across the back of his head for the annoyance caused by his incessant questioning. "What was that for?"

"You will know when she is awake. Until that time, keep your big mouth shut."

"Meow," came Kuma's small sound from Ayamae's large, red hiking backpack sitting near the campfire.

"What are you doing here? I thought Aya made sure you were back home?" Faith questioned the kitten.

"Ah! Keep that monster away from me! It's evil incarnate!" Kuwabara shrieked.

"He is not a monster, simply a demon. Who, now that I think of it, must be hungry," Kurama said, looking at the kitten that now rested in Faith's arms. "So, are you?"

The purring and rubbing of his cheek against Faith's shoulder was interrupted by a perking of the ears and a small accompanying meow.

"I'll take that as a yes," Kurama laughed, pulling a skillet and spatula followed by a package of bacon, sausage, and some eggs from a bag. He then began to make breakfast over the fire, accompanied by Faith's joyful laughter.

Ayamae stirred into consciousness making a small moaning noise. She shifted slightly and felt Hiei's arms around her waist. She looked over her shoulder and looked into his deep red eyes as they looked at her.

"Good morning," he said, releasing her and sitting up behind her, fearing her possible response.

"'Morning." She then heard Faith reprimanding Kuwabara's questioning. "How long has this been going on?"

"Long enough to grow beyond tiring. I nearly went out there to silence him myself, but I could not make myself leave you here alone. Leaving you open to attack is not a good idea, considering where we are and that we need you able to fight and fulfil the prophecy."

"Do you truly believe in that thing?" she asked.

"Well, it only makes sense, seeing as I've seemingly grown feelings for the thing I most hate. That being you completely."

Her eyes grew steely and hard, all emotion for him locked away and simply leaving a hollow space. He closed his eyes and turned his head slightly to the side, angered with himself for his bad use of words.

"Look, I meant that to come out in a good way for you. You're so hard to please, do you know that?" he said, growing exasperated.

"Actually, I've known that for years. I anger myself in my own wishes. Especially while one of those is you, though that seems to have been something I can not be allowed to have, no matter what I do," she snarled lightly at him, the hurt and anger showing in her eyes. She rose and moved toward the tent's opening, but was stopped by Hiei's hand grasping her wrist tightly.

"Release me, now, Hiei," she demanded.

"No. You must hear me out. I meant that as an admission of feelings. Not something to make you angry."

"Well, next time you may want to watch the wording you use as not to piss someone off," she said, yanking on her arm roughly. "Now, release me."

Hiei pulled on her arm and she fell into his lap. He surrounded her with his arms and held her still. "I cannot let you go like this. I… I don't know how to say this…" he stumbled over his words, looking to the side once again but keeping his grip tight on her.

"I will say this only once more nicely, Hiei. Release me."

"Allow me to say this then I will give you your choice," he requested.

"I suppose I have no other option. Make this fast."

He took in a deep breath then let it out in a deep sigh before saying, "I love you."

Ayamae sat in a thorough state of bewilderment at this. Words escaped her and she fought to regain her composure, starting with her gaping mouth.

Her eyes darted back and forth, her mouth gaping like a fish. Her inability to understand what Hiei had said was blatantly obvious.

"Wh-what did you say?" she stuttered.

"I love you." He placed his hands on either side of her face and gently pulled her toward him. He placed a light kiss on her lips and pulled away slightly. When Ayamae did not fight to get away he kissed her again, this time more solidly.

Ayamae regained her composure enough to kiss him back, placing her right hand on his cheek. Their tongues met and her left hand plunged itself into his hair. They made a simultaneous sound of pleasure, sending shivers through them.

Ayamae lay herself back, her mouth still connected with Hiei's, and pulled him over on top of her. This shocked Hiei slightly, causing him to fall above her momentarily. Ayamae wrapped her legs about Hiei's waist, holding him down.

I cannot hold myself up. I don't- Hiei started, only to be stopped, though his mouth was still attached to Aya's. 

_I want you here like this. Don't rob me of my pleasure. Please,_ she begged.

_I don't want to hurt you._ He pulled away and gazed into her face, his face full of emotion, a rather new event to Ayamae.

"You won't. I would not let you. Please. Besides, you will have to hurt me if we were to mate."

"Is there any doubt in your mind?" he asked, his face serious and happy at once.

"I don't know. I mean, there's so much that is still unknown to us… like if we'll live through Hiroyuki and how that will work… I… I don't know…" she stammered, her eyes looking about her lap from side to side.

"I will wait for you."

She smiled sadly in response. _But will you wait long enough for Faith's and mine journey? Can you wait that long?_


	20. Arrival

Chapter 20: Arrival 

Team Urameshi stood before the fortress, Faith and Ayamae at the head of the group. The girls took a glance at each other and back to the building before them.

Ayamae took a deep breath that left her in a sigh. "Ready for this, Faith?"

"Will we ever be?" came her response.

"No."

"Let's finish this."

"Let's."

With that, the two led the way into the darkness before them.

The halls were dark; nothing of the sunlight outside reaching them though the front gate remained open. Torches lined the walls, light from the fire making the shadows dance.

Faith and Ayamae led the way into the never-ending darkness, Kurama and Hiei following closely behind. Sayuri walked between Kuwabara and Yusuke, nervousness easy to read on her face.

The surroundings became more familiar to Ayamae and Faith as they walked, and the familiarity wasn't helping them keep their composure. Faith absent-mindedly reached back toward Kurama, subconsciously groping for his hand. He offered it, and Faith felt the warmth of his skin against hers before she realized what she had done. She smiled in relief even though she knew no one could see it, but they didn't have to. She felt better, and at that moment that was all that mattered.

Ayamae had a similar exchange with Hiei. He could sense her body grow more tense by the second, and before a fight, especially this one, that was not good. He lightly laid his hand on the nape of her neck, fingers buried in the ends of her hair. He felt tension in her shoulders lessen slightly, but that was all. His hand massaged in small circles at the base of her neck, and all her tension slipped away. She sighed and it went unnoticed by everyone except Hiei. His hand slowly, gently, ran down her back, taking in the feel, the shape, of her body underneath the cloth. As it neared her waist, he slowly withdrew it, and grabbed her hand, giving it a slight squeeze. That was all she needed to know he was there for her. For how long was the part she didn't know. She shook the thought from her head. There were other things to worry about at this moment.

The group came to an intersection of hallways that went to their right, left, and straight ahead. The girls stopped and looked around, unsure of what direction to continue heading in.

"Ok, which way?" Faith asked aloud.

A set of large doors ahead of them opened slowly, unbidden. The wood and hinges creaked and groaned at the movement.

"That's not ominous at all, is it?" Yusuke asked sarcastically.

Ayamae and Faith looked at each other and, without a word of any kind, nodded, agreeing that the building would need to be demolished.

They led the others into the large room, walls of stone surrounding them and rising greatly to the high ceiling. Great stone pillars rose around them, showing the grandeur of the room that could only be called the dining room or great hall.

At the end of the room, there were two halls, each heading to the left and right. Ayamae looked instinctively to her right, her eyes growing slightly larger.

She took in a deep breath and exhaled it shakily. "This way," she said simply.

They continued and came to another hall with the same set up. This one Faith looked to her left and identified it as the proper direction. At the end of this hall was an antique, dark wooded door that showed the dark, burnish-colored metal braces.

"This is it," the girls said together.

A deep breath was shared along with a glance. "Together," they announced.

Ayamae took hold of the door knob and, as she turned it, Faith pushed the door open. They entered together, heading to the fight that would save or destroy the world, along with their own loves, lives, and hopes.


	21. Death

Chapter 21: Death

"So, you beat the shape shifter. I'm not too surprised but that you are nearly unscathed," came the deep voice from the darkness.

"A night's rest will do wonders for anyone," Ayamae snarled, her teeth tight together, fighting off the ten-year-old images of this demon and his fortress.

Hiroyuki emerged from the deep shadows, a small smirk on his face. His eyes passed over Suri, however, and the smirk disappeared. "Why are you here? If they are alive, you should be dead," he snapped.

A confused look crossed over her face. "What? I don't know what you mean."

"I hired you to kill these two as well as any that got in your way! You have failed me twice now! I will overlook when they were children, but not now!" he threw his arm out and a blast of heated air rushed toward Suri and she flew into the wall, crumbling to the floor.

"Suri!" Yusuke cried out. He looked toward Hiroyuki, a look of deep loathing across his face, his eyes steely. "You will not touch her again."

_Somebody's got a little crush_, Faith laughed in Ayamae's head.

Little? That's an understatement… 

By now, Suri had risen from the floor, holding her head in her hand slightly. "Are you so sure of that?" Hiroyuki asked, sending another wave at her, this time leaving her sitting in the semi-collapsed wall.

Yusuke screamed and raced at Hiroyuki, the rage obvious in his movement.

"I grow tired of you," Hiroyuki sighed, sending a blast at Yusuke this time, smashing him through the already-weakened wall Suri was crumpled under.

A whimper was heard from Kuwabara as he backed away slowly, fearing the demon greatly. Hiroyuki's gaze centered on the girls' hands still clinging tightly to that of Hiei and Kurama's. His rage increased slightly at the sight and he sent a wave toward them.

Faith yelled at the last possible moment, self-preservation rising above her fear. "Night Shield!"

The blast hit the shield, and the ground shuddered at the impact. Faith tensed, concentrating on keeping the shield up. Hiroyuki's rage was full-blown now. He fired in continuous blasts at the shield, resolve to break it clear on his face. The blast hit the shield once again, and Faith struggled to maintain it. She managed to do so for a minute or so before the effort to keep the shield up drove her to her knees, her breathing heavy with the effort to maintain their last defense.

"I can't… hold it…" Faith managed to whisper, only Kurama, Hiei, and Ayamae hearing her.

Ayamae stood alongside her friend and held her arms out at her sides. "Fire Wall," she said, placing it around Faith's barrier. "Let it go, Faith. I've got it."

Faith couldn't get enough air to speak and let her best friend know she was letting go, so she just dropped the shield and collapsed to the floor. Kurama knelt beside her and cradled her in his arms.

"Are you okay?" he asked worry, concern, admiration, and love lining his voice.

Faith smiled, "I'll be fine. You look so cute when you worry about me."

She laughed slightly as he returned her smile.

Ayamae's arms grew stiff quickly in the effort of fighting off the attacks. She watched the flames flicker in the blazing winds that held no oxygen, no fuel, to help her. She felt Hiei's hands close with her own; his body pressed to hers from behind. Though he offered no help in holding the wall, he was a support she had needed. Her resolve solidified as she saw Faith in Kurama's arms, finally with the love she had always wanted and deserved. Also, Ayamae's own love that she had never felt would be capable of her again after that first broken heart from a human.

She closed out the memories of Kioshi and focused on the solid body behind hers, offering physical and emotional support so she could focus spiritually on her wall and the defense needed.

She put all her focus on her powers and holding the wall strong and hot. She did not see the wall thicken itself outward and split in half. The large, outer half moved out, expanding its radius. Hiroyuki paused in the middle of throwing another blast as he noticed the flames growing closer. Soon they passed over him, burning and scalding.

"Ayamae, look up. You can stop now," Hiei whispered in her ear.

She lowered the level of power as she opened her eyes and sighted Hiroyuki on the ground, his hair singed and soot smudges covering his skin. "I never knew I could do that…" Ayamae wondered aloud.

Hiei reluctantly moved to let her stand on her own, which didn't happen. He caught her as she started to fall, and lowered her gently to the floor.

"I've never seen a move like that one, girl. A nice mistake that helped you. Feel lucky," Hiroyuki said.

"Let's not start the monologues, we don't have time for that. We want you dead, you want us dead. It's been that way for ten years. Let's see how this story ends," Ayamae said, rising to her feet. Faith joined her at the head of the remaining four. (Kuwabara had left them, mumbling something about getting Yusuke and Suri.)

Kurama and Hiei went to the sides, the girls moving as well, but at a slower pace. They moved well together, almost as though practiced, though that could not have been further from the truth.

Kurama pulled the rose from his hair as he moved swiftly, forming the Rose Whip, while Hiei pulled his blade from its sheath.

Hiroyuki's anger slipped away to be replaced with a smirk, inwardly laughing at their attempt at a strategy. His eyes shifted first to Kurama then Hiei, sizing up their threats. He moved toward Kurama, gesturing his hand, beckoning something unseen. "Come to me," he whispered. Kurama started slightly as his rose whip dematerialized from his hand only to reappear in Hiroyuki's open palm.

A sadistic smile crossed his face as he lashed the weapon out at its creator. The whip snapped out, wrapping itself around Kurama. Hiroyuki smirked, throwing Kurama into the wall behind him, releasing his hold on the whip. This caused the thorns of the whip to dig into Kurama's flesh. The tip of the whip then swung around and drove itself through the center of his chest. A look of surprise crossed his face as he slid down the wall onto his knees. He looked down at his chest and then at Faith. A look of horror and shock crossed her face as he fell onto his side.

Hiroyuki took a moment to enjoy the look on Faith's face before he turned his attentions to Hiei.

Hiei held his katana behind him, increasing his aerodynamics. Hiroyuki repeated the motion and the katana moved to his hold. Hiei was unable to stop his advance in time, though he saw his own blade turned on him and felt it sliding into his own stomach to the hilt.

Ayamae halted mid-step as she watched the blade slide home in the stomach of her love. She watched in shock as he flew across the room, his back hitting wall solidly. The blade was forced from his body and fell to the floor with a loud clattering that resounded in her head.


	22. Passions in Blood

Note: I've just got to put one in just to 'urk' you and keep the tension… I love being evil evil grin. Sorry it took so long to update. Jobs, senior year stuff, and SO much other crap is getting in the way of finishing this baby. BUT we SHOULD be done (note, I say 'should') with this in about 2-3 more chapters… Then the sequel SHOULD begin… more evil laughter. Well, enjoy this!

Side note from Faith: Hey, this is basically just a short chapter as transition of what's to come. I can assure you THIS IS A TEAR-JERKER. So keep a box of Klenexs handy. (I had to and I wrote half of it!) Well, loves to all our readers. Continue Onward!

Chapter 22: Passions in Blood

During Hiroyuki's attack on Hiei, Faith stood motionless, staring at Kurama's limp body laying on the ground, wrapped and pierced by his own weapon. Her breathing had stopped and it took all her will to force her lungs to take in air.

She ran to his side, kneeling beside him, hands hovering over his body, not sure where to lay them that would not cause the man before her to be in more pain.

Finally, she laid her hands flat on the ground and leaned over him to whisper in his ear.

"I'm going to entangle you from this." Her voice faltered as tears started to well up in the corner of her eyes.

"Ok…"

She laid a tentative hand on his shoulder and wrapped the other around the part of the whip protruding from his chest.

Her grip tightening on his shoulder was the only warning he had before she pulled it out in a quick, somewhat smooth motion. He cried out in pain, and that ended Faith's fight against the tears. They now fell freely down her face.

She smoothed back the hair in his face so her view of his face would not be interrupted. She took a moment to memorize every line and curve of his face before meeting his half-closed eyes.

He understood what she was going to do before she moved him to a sitting position and slowly unwound the whip from around his body. As the last bit fell away it transformed back into a rose that was covered in Kurama's blood.

She sat beside him, one leg out behind him the other folded back so his legs could lay straight. She pulled him to her, his head resting on her shoulder. One of her hands lay on the side of his face the other curling around his back to lay on the opposite hip.

He used his last bit of strength to his kiss her neck, making a sob escape from her throat.

She started whispering, almost inaudibly, "I can't lose you… I can't lose you," over and over again.

"Shh," he whispered. "It'll be okay." His hand went to her side and stroked with his thumb feeling the curve of her body through the materiel of her shirt.

She stopped her seemingly chant to answer, "No, it won't be. I can't survive losing you. I've lost too many people already. I'm not going to lose you too. I won't allow it." The last part she said almost angrily.

"You're going to have to," he said, his voice becoming softer.

"No," she whispered harshly, before another sob escaped her mouth. "Please, please," she begged to no in particular.

"I love you," he whispered.

She gathered a shuddering breath before whispering, "I love you too."

With that his hand fell away from her side and the tension left his body.

Ayamae's breath caught in her throat and she raced over to him. "Hiei!" she gasped as she reached him, falling to her knees. Hot tears filled her constricted throat. He opened his eyes as she touched his cheek, her eyes tenderly looking over his face, quickly draining of color. He moved to raise his hand to her cheek, but it fell in mid-movement. The tears that had been welling in her eyes burst forth, the dam broken, and solidified into the jewels known from the Koorime Island of ice demons.

A look crossed Hiei's face as he watched the pearlescent orb fall to the floor, only to swiftly transform into a look of complete suffering.

"Shh," she muttered placing her hands on his cheeks. "Don't move. Don't move and you'll be fine." More tears crept from her eyes as he gave her a defeated look.

"No. I won't be fine. I'd die for you, Ayamae. I came here expecting to die for you." A pained expression crossed his face again as he let out a slight groan. "I'd do it again for you, too."

"Don't say that! You'll be fine! You'll make it through this," she muttered, jewels falling at an increased pace.

"No, I won't. I'm going to die. This fight is left to you and Faith, as Kurama is fading as well. Move on, Ayamae. You deserve more than I could have ever given."

"Stop saying these things!"

"You must listen to the truths I'm saying. I am dying and there is no stopping that. You must… fight… on…" His voice grew increasingly weak as his eyelids grew heavier.

"No! Don't go!"

"I love you, Ayamae." With these words Hiei's eyes closed for the last time.

Ayamae's face was stricken as she shook her head, sending jewels flying. "No, dammit! You can't go! Come back, damn you! No!"

She collapsed on his chest, her silent sobs wracking her body. "No. I love you, Hiei. I swore to never love again but, damn you, you blew that to hell. I love you.

"Do you hear me, Hiei?" she screamed. "I love you!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Faith: sniff sniff Told you! continues to cry ... composes self Well, we will try to update as soon as possible, though we do have some things coming up that will call our attention away from this, we are very sorry to say, but we will write whenever possible to appease you people. Loves and Klenexs to all!!!


	23. Fulfilling The Prophecy

Chapter 23: Fulfilling the Prophecy

_Ultimate power of two, the hope of the Worlds,_

_Only to be found with true love._

_Emotion, power, and spirit as one, _

_Body and mind will know no limits._

With this simultaneous declaration of love the prophecy came to pass. A slight yellow glow seemed to emanate from the two grief-stricken girls as they rose, ascending, to the center of the room, the glows growing in intensity. A blinding light filled the room, lighting it as day, and the two disappeared from sight.

Left in their place was a single woman, her hair a deep, impenetrable black, one lightened by crimson and silver streaks. Her attire consisted of black pants and a red shirt with long, flowing sleeves, a pure white sloth belt around her waist with no hint as how it was to be taken off or put on for it was all one piece of cloth, no stitch in sight. Her silver eyes took in the sight of her hands, wondering at herself. Acknowledgement dawned across her face as the events were made understandable.

_Another prophecy directly tied to Hiroyuki's doom… interesting._

_That it is, though rather sadistic that our loves should have to die for this power surge, is it not?_

The mental images of Faith and Ayamae looked at each other within their now-combined mind.

_As we have nothing else to do, shall we taunt the soon-to-be-dead? _Ayamae asked.

_Let's_, Faith answered, excitement obvious within her voice.

The right reached out and flicked at the wrist toward Hiroyuki. "Clear Inferno," came the command, spoken lightly.

Hiroyuki fought to stay strong against the attack, to not show the pain he was feeling, but he eventually failed as the pain grew to beyond an intensity previously known to him. His mouth moved, unable to let out noise as he cringed and fell to his knees.

The new being stood, smiling slightly at her handy-work. She quickly became bored and discontinued the attack, letting him fall and catch himself with his hands, breathing heavily.

"It's time to mix it up a little," she said, her voice echoing, in surround sound. "Arctic Fire."

Both hands reached out, as if beseeching. The temperature dropped to a level where the cold started to burn, at least to the person it was directed toward. After a few seconds frost started to glide over his skin and clothes, starting at his feet and working its way up, causing him to shake violently from the cold temperatures and the seemingly red hot pokers digging into every square inch of skin. The ultimate form of Faith and Ayamae did not want this attack to bring his end, though. Her hands dropped to the sides, the attacked effectively stopped. With a wave of her right hand the frost melted off of Hiroyuki's body.

"Poor Hiroyuki," she taunted, "and he was so sure of himself too."

"Who," he stopped, taking a deep breath. "Who are you?"

"You know who I am. Don't ask such an insignificant question. Neither should you beg for mercy- though it would amuse me greatly- for you will receive none. I was destined to kill you, or we, if your simple mind can't fathom two women forming one body. Enough of this though. It is your time, and I have no intention of delaying your meeting with death any longer."

"Please, I-" Hiroyuki pleaded before the being cut him off, left hand on hip, finger wagging in the air.

"Tsk, tsk. What did I say about begging for mercy? Just don't do it and the world will be a lot happier. Now then, Hiroyuki. For your violent acts towards Kurama, Hiei, Sayuri, Yusuke, Kuwabara, me, my families, and those you took out to get to me, I condemn you to death. May it be a most unpleasant one," she grinned.

The room darkened slightly before Hiroyuki heard the last words he would ever hear.

"Divine Retribution."

The room shook visibly as the air seemed to grow thicker, making it harder to breathe. An invisible dome surrounded the being, also shaking, wanting to be free. She flung her arms outward and the dome grew rapidly, spreading from its starting point. It pushed at the walls and the ceiling, forcing its way. The stone cracked and crumbled under the pressure until finally the dome pushed its way through, pieces of stone falling around them, creating a circle of stone around them, leaving the area where they stood free from debris.

Hiroyuki looked up at the sky, taking in its half-day and half-night state, the sun shining brightly against the blue sky and the stars glittering around the crescent moon.

A light emanating from the being brought his attention back to her. She was glowing with a growing intensity. The light spread, enveloping everything, and blinding white. Only Hiroyuki's screams were heard in the silence. Suddenly the light and the screams stopped, leaving silence, the lighting then returning to its original state. One thing remained of the light though. Both Hiei and Kurama's bodies were glowing as the being's had previously, only this light didn't grow, but pulsed with an unwavering degree of brightness.

The blood started to flow in reverse, seeping back into the wounds. Not a spot was left on the ground as the wounds started to close, leaving not even a scar. The light died away to nothing from the bodies.

"It is done," whispered the being, her voice still an echo.

The two demons slowly opened their eyes, blinking once, taking in the sight of the being. She smiled down at them as she started to glow, the light growing in intensity once again. The blinding light returned, causing Hiei and Kurama to cover their eyes. It soon died away to reveal Faith and Ayamae standing hand in hand, smiling at each other.

"It's over," the said in unison, relieved.

The women went over to their respective partners, helping them up.

_The moon is obscured in deep gloom,_

_His brother rising as the red dawn._

_The fallen one will rise again, _

_Only to be struck down once more._

_Two as one when true love becomes known,_

_Will erase an abyss from time._

_The one named for death with a scared heart,_

_Only evil as his care._

_The great one hidden for so long will rise again,_

_With the joining of the crescent moon and the sun._

_And the joining of light and darkness,_

_The great one will then erase the abyss._


	24. New Adventures

Chapter 24: New Adventures

Faith and Ayamae sat conferring in low voices on the couch at Genkai's. Their wounds had healed as Hiei and Kurama's had. Now they planned their next move.

The door opened from the outdoors, revealing Hiei and Kurama. The two men looked at the girls quizzically, taking note of the abrupt halt in the conversation they had been sharing.

"What's wrong?" Kurama asked, concerned.

Faith continued to look at him for a few seconds before looking down at her feet and then glancing to the side. "It's nothing."

_Don't keep secrets, Ayamae. We know you were speaking, but when you stop suddenly, we also know something is wrong_, Hiei told Ayamae.

She looked into his eyes, her eyes sad and half-lidded. _It is nothing, truly._

Faith suddenly stood and went to Kurama, hugging him. Kurama, more confused and concerned than ever, shared a look with Hiei. Hiei then looked back at Ayamae and, seeing a tear glide down her cheek, he sought the answers with more incentive.

_You need not hide anything from me any longer, my love. There can be no secrets between mates._

Ayamae closed her eyes and turned her head, more tears flowing from her eyes. _This is no secret, only an unwanted tiding._

Faith clung to Kurama more desperately, and he returned it, trying to comfort her the best way he could, given he did not know what was going on.

_What do you mean?_

Ayamae and Faith stood outside the doors of their most recent home and picked up the solo bag they had each packed.

"You will return, will you not?" Kurama asked for the unknown repetition.

"We have assured you, we will be back," Ayamae said, her hand on Hiei's arm, her hand clenched in his sleeve the only sign of her growing apprehension.

Faith looked up at Kurama, her smile small and tinged with sadness. "We will return. I promise. No matter how long we are gone, we will always be with you. Always. And I will always love you. Know that with each moment you live without me. I may not be yours physically, but my heart, my spirit, my entire being is yours." The last was said with a more knowing and loving smile, and Ayamae mirrored it.

Hiei pulled Ayamae away for a moment, speaking in hushed tones. "Will you not become mine first? I would feel slightly better knowing you are safe through a connection as strong as that," he pleaded once again.

"No, my love."

"Why not?" He was growing slightly angry at her stubbornness.

"I know that if I were to do so, I could never leave you here."

"Let me come with you!"

"I cannot do that, either. Faith and I must do this on our own. I promise you, my love, I will think of you every morning when I wake up without you next to me, every night I lay down, wondering how you are. Always. I do not want to leave, but I must. I must lay this to rest, and that can only happen with Faith… and only Faith. I am truly sorry. I will be back, though. No matter how long it takes, I will return to you. No one else could capture my heart as thoroughly as you managed to. I love you."

"I love you too."

The two women each kissed their guys one last time, and it held much more meaning than all the others before it. They parted, unable to turn back, for the knowledge that if they did they would never continue forward.

THE END 

NOTE: Hope you enjoyed the ending. YAYS! We finished it! (Faith: Finally… only took four years…)

TIP: DO NOT PANIC! There WILL be a sequel (probably two) and it will be MAGNIFICANT!!! Hehe…

But, for now, farewell, namaarie, adios, etc, etc… Loves to all our readers!


	25. Epilouge of Humor: Hiei's Long Ears

**Epilouge of Humor: Hiei's Long Ears**

Kurama and Hiei walked back into the temple followed by the rest of the gang. As they approached the living room both Hiei and Kurama stopped, Kurama laughing fully. Hiei disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Hey, guys, what's going on?" Kuwabara asked.

"Faith did a little redecorating while we were out."

Kuwabara and Yusuke stepped up to peer into the living room. Renewed laughter joined the rustle of paper.

Every single wall was covered in the picture Faith had drawn of Hiei. A pile was growing in the middle of the room where Hiei was rushing around the room, tearing the pictures off the wall and throwing them in the pile.

Yusuke bent over and picked one up, smoothing out its crumbled state.

A chibi Hiei sat in a field of grass, a few flowers surrounding him. His feet and hands were that of a bunny's white paws, a fluffy tail peeked out from his rear, and long white ears perked out of his black hair. His eyes were wide and innocent, full of curiosity, and a light blush graced his cheeks.

Laughter echoed throughout the temple. Yusuke and Kuwabara could not remain upright and fell to the floor, rolling, banging the floor with their fists, and laughing. Even Kurama had trouble maintaining his balance and hand to lean on a nearby chair for support.

Minutes later the pictures were gone. They had been burned to nothing by Hiei, who by then was fuming. Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara sat on various pieces of furniture, their fits over.

"She had another drawn besides the one she gave you," Kurama explained. "She photo-copied them, and did what she said she was going to do, and obviously more."

Hiei's eyes widened. She had said she was going to post it on the fridge…

He rushed into the Kitchen followed by the others, where he met the same sight, and got rid of them accordingly.

He sighed, tired, and headed off to his room. Shutting the door behind him, he walked to his bed, plopped down, and shut his eyes. He tensed. Did he see what he thought he saw? He slowly opened his eyes to see an enlarger version of the picture taped to his ceiling above his bed. His eyes slowly glanced to his left, then his right. His breathing stopped for a second as he tried to control himself. It wasn't going to happen. His bellow echoed down the hall and reached every occupant, causing them to burst out laughing.

This is not the end of it, however.

IN the fridge.

IN the freezer.

IN his shower.

Taped on the INSIDE of the lid of his sweet snow.

"FAITH!!! Your so dead when you get back!!!"

**END.**


End file.
